Seatbelt assist device and vehicle seat

ABSTRACT

Provided is a belt assist device having a compact configuration and being configured to move a seatbelt to an easily reachable position. A vehicle seat includes a belt assist device attached to a lateral portion of a seat back and configured to move a portion of a seatbelt placed on the lateral portion to the easily reachable position. The belt assist device includes a rotary member attached to a recessed housing portion of the lateral portion via a rotary shaft and configured to rotate up and down between a housing position at which the rotary member is housed in the seat back and a protruding position at which the rotary member rotates to protrude forward of the seat back to push out a portion of the seatbelt. The rotary member is disposed forward of a belt guide provided at the periphery of an upper end of the seat back.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/501,720, filed Feb. 3, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No.10,189,437, which is the National Stage Entry application of PCTApplication No. PCT/JP2015/072179, filed Aug. 5, 2015, which claims thepriority benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-160884, filedon Aug. 6, 2014, Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-160885, filed onAug. 6, 2014, Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-160886, filed on Aug.6, 2014, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-102041, filed on May19, 2015, the contents of each being incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to a seatbelt assist device and a vehicleseat. Particularly, the present disclosure relates to a seatbelt assistdevice and a vehicle seat capable of moving at least a portion of aseatbelt to a position easily reachable by a seated passenger's hand.

Typically, it has been known that in order for a seated passenger on avehicle seat to easily take a seatbelt, a belt movable member providedat an upper portion of a seat back protrudes forward or upward to push aportion of the seatbelt forward or upward, for example, as described inJapanese Patent Publication JP 2004-306642A and Japanese PatentPublication JP 06-060562U.

In the seatbelt integrated vehicle seat described in JP 2004-306642A,the belt movable member is attached to an upper portion of a lateralportion of the seat back in a right-to-left direction, the upper portionbeing capable of housing the belt movable member. The seatbelt extendsdownward from a belt guide (a pullout port) provided at an upperposition of the belt movable member in the lateral portion, and isplaced on the lateral portion. The belt movable member is disposed tomove between a housing position at which the belt movable member ishoused in a housing portion of the seat back and an extension positionat which the belt movable member is extended forward of the seat fromthe housing position to push a portion of the seatbelt forward. With theabove-described configuration, workability in fastening of the seatbeltby the seated passenger is improved.

In the vehicle rear seat described in JP 06-060562U, the belt guideintegrated belt movable member (a belt anchor) is attached to an upperportion of a center portion of the seat back in a right-to-left widthdirection, the upper portion being capable of housing the belt movablemember. The seatbelt is guided by a belt guide on an upper surface ofthe center portion, and extends from the upper surface to a frontsurface of the center portion. Thus, the seatbelt is placed on thecenter portion. The belt movable member is rotatably disposed between ahousing position at which the belt movable member is housed in arecessed housing portion of the seat back and a protruding position atwhich the belt movable member protrudes upward of the seat from thehousing position to push a portion of the seatbelt upward. With theabove-described configuration, the belt movable member can constantlyprotrude when the passenger is seated on a rear middle seat of avehicle, and can be housed to ensure rearward visibility when nopassenger is seated.

However, the belt movable member as described in JP 2004-306642A has arelatively-complicated extension mechanism configured to push a portionof the seatbelt forward, leading to a size increase of the mechanism. Inthe belt movable member as described in JP 06-060562U, size reduction ismade using a rotation mechanism. However, since the belt movable memberis of the belt guide integrated type, it is necessary to provide amechanism configured to guide the seatbelt. This leads to a sizeincrease. Moreover, since the belt movable member protrudes upward fromthe seat back after the passenger has seated, there is a likelihood thatsuch a state interferes with the passenger to be seated.

Further, the belt movable member as described in JP 2004-306642A and JP06-060562U protrudes forward or upward of the seat from the upperportion of the seat back to push a portion of the seatbelt forward orupward, and therefore, the seated passenger can easily take theseatbelt. For this reason, a design to further improve the workabilityin fastening of the seatbelt is desirable.

In addition, in the belt movable member as in JP 2004-306642A, when theseated passenger pulls the seatbelt toward one's body to fasten theseatbelt, if a portion of the belt movable member still contacts andpushes out the seatbelt, play of the seatbelt is caused. As a result,this might interfere with the performance of restraining the seatedpassenger by the seatbelt. For this reason, a design to ensure afavorable performance of restraining the seated passenger by theseatbelt is desirable.

Moreover, in the vehicle seat as in JP 2004-306642A and JP 06-060562U,no arrangement has been particularly made to use an indicator sectionsuch as sound or vibration to inform the seated passenger of the beltmovable member being at the extension position (the protrudingposition). Thus, there is a possibility that the seated passengeraccidentally contacts the belt movable member at the extension position(the protruding position) or that other members contact such a beltmovable member.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure has been made in view of the above-describedproblems, and describes embodiments of a seatbelt assist device and avehicle seat configured to use a simple compact configuration to move aseatbelt to a position easily reachable by a seated passenger. Moreover,the present disclosure provides an embodiment of a seatbelt assistdevice and a vehicle seat configured to improve workability in fasteningof a seatbelt by a seated passenger. Further, the present disclosuredescribes an embodiment of a seatbelt assist device and a vehicle seatconfigured to ensure a favorable performance of restraining a seatedpassenger by a seatbelt. In addition, the present disclosure describesan embodiment of a seat belt assist device and a vehicle seat configuredto move a portion of a seatbelt to a position easily reachable by aseated passenger and informing the seated passenger that the portion ofthe seatbelt has been moved.

The above-described problems are solved by one or more embodiments ofthe present seatbelt assist device. The present seatbelt assist deviceis a seatbelt assist device attached to a seat back as a backrest of avehicle seat and being configured to move at least a portion of aseatbelt placed on the seat back to a position easily reachable by aseated passenger. The seatbelt assist device includes a rotary memberattached to the seat back via a rotary shaft and configured to movebetween a housing position at which the rotary member is housed in theseat back and a protruding position at which the rotary member protrudesforward of the seat back to push out a portion of the seatbelt. Therotary member is disposed forward of a belt guide provided at an upperend of the seat back or at the periphery of the upper end of the seatback.

As described above, in order for the seated passenger to more easilytake the seatbelt, the rotary member rotates to protrude forward of theseat to push out a portion of the seatbelt, and the rotary member andthe belt guide are provided as separate bodies. Thus, the seatbeltassist device having a simple compact configuration is provided.

In this state, the rotary member may be attached to an upper portion ofthe seat back, and when moved to the protruding position, the rotarymember may push out a portion of the seatbelt from behind of the portionof the seatbelt such that a clearance is formed between a front surfaceof the seat back and the seatbelt and between the upper end of the seatback and the seatbelt. With the above-described configuration, therotary member forms the clearance between the front surface of the seatback and the seatbelt and between the upper end of the seat back and theseatbelt, and therefore, the seated passenger can much more easily takethe seatbelt as compared to a typical case.

In this state, the rotary member may be attached to a lateral portion ofthe seat back in a right-to-left direction. The rotary member may be,via the rotary shaft, attached to a recessed housing portion provided atthe lateral portion, the recessed housing portion being configured tohouse the rotary member. The rotary shaft may be pivotally supported toextend in the right-to-left direction in the recessed housing portion.As described above, the rotary shaft is pivotally supported to extend inthe right-to-left direction in the recessed housing portion. Thus, therotary member is compactly disposed using a rotation mechanism, androtates in an upper-to-lower direction to easily push out the seatbelt.

In this state, a support plate configured to rotatably support therotary member may be attached between the rotary member and the recessedhousing portion. The rotary shaft may be attached to an upper endportion or lower end portion of the rotary member, and may be pivotallysupported by the support plate. As described above, since the supportplate is provided, clearance formation between the rotary member and therecessed housing portion can be reduced, leading to favorableappearance. Moreover, since the rotary shaft is attached to the upperend portion or lower end portion of the rotary member, the trajectory ofrotation of the rotary member becomes larger, and the amount of movementof a portion of the seatbelt can be increased.

In this state, the rotary shaft may be attached to an upper end portionof the rotary member. The rotary member may be configured to rotate,when moving from the housing position to the protruding position, upwardabout the rotary shaft to protrude forward of the seat. The rotarymember may be configured such that when moved to the protrudingposition, an angle of the rotary member with respect to the seat back isequal to or smaller than about 90 degrees. With the above-describedconfiguration, the probability of tangling the seatbelt due to moreupward rotation of the rotary member than necessary can be reduced.Moreover, even when the seated passenger accidentally pushes the rotarymember upward, the rotary member can be biased toward the housingposition by its own weight, and the probability of deforming the rotarymember due to a load received from the outside can be reduced.

In this state, the rotary member may be disposed at a lower position ofa lower end of a head rest as a head portion of the vehicle seat, andmay be disposed at a lower position of the upper end of the seat back.With the above-described configuration, the rotary member is, in thepresent embodiment, disposed at a position more apart from the face ofthe seated passenger as compared to the typical case where the rotarymember moves at a position near the face of the seated passenger. Thus,a feeling of discomfort of the seated passenger can be reduced.

In this state, the rotary member may be provided with a positionrestriction portion configured to restrict the position of the seatbeltin the right-to-left direction on a surface contacting the seatbelt whenthe rotary member is at the protruding position. With theabove-described configuration, when the rotary member is at theprotruding position at which a portion of the seatbelt is pushed out,displacement of the seatbelt in the right-to-left direction can bereduced by the position restriction portion.

In this state, the rotary member may be attached to the lateral portionof the seat back in the right-to-left direction, and one of right andleft end portions of the rotary member close to a center portion of theseat back may be provided with a cutout portion cut out toward the otherone of the right and left end portions farther from the center portionof the seat back. With the above-described configuration, when theseatbelt is pulled toward a seated passenger's body so that the seatedpassenger can fasten the seatbelt, contact between the rotary member atthe protruding position and the seatbelt is easily reduced. Thus, afavorable performance of restraining the seated passenger by theseatbelt can be ensured without causing play of the seatbelt. Moreover,the probability of pinching a portion of the seatbelt between the rotarymember at the protruding position and the seat back after fastening ofthe seatbelt is also reduced.

In this state, the rotary member may be attached to the recessed housingportion provided at the seat back, the recessed housing portion beingconfigured to house the rotary member. A support plate configured tosupport the rotary member may be attached between the rotary member andthe recessed housing portion, the support plate being configured tohouse the rotary member. A portion of the support plate corresponding tothe cutout portion may be provided with a protruding raised portionprotruding toward the rotary member. With the above-describedconfiguration, when the rotary member is housed in the support plate,recess formation at the front surface of the seat back can be reduced.Thus, the probability of foreign material entry can be reduced.Moreover, the feeling of discomfort of the seated passenger iseliminated, and favorable appearance and merchantability are provided.

In this state, the rotary member may be attached to the recessed housingportion provided at the seat back, the recessed housing portion beingconfigured to house the rotary member. The seatbelt assist device mayfurther include a motor housed in the recessed housing portion, and adrive shaft interposed between the motor and the rotary member andconfigured to move up and down in association with driving of the motorto rotate the rotary member. With the above-described configuration, thedriven type seatbelt assist device having a relatively simple compactconfiguration can be provided.

In this state, the rotary member may include an indicator sectionconfigured to inform that the rotary member is at the protrudingposition. With the above-described configuration, the seatbelt assistdevice can be provided, which is configured to use the indicator sectionsuch as illumination, sound, or vibration to inform the seated passengerthat a portion of the seatbelt has been moved to the position easilyreachable by the seated passenger.

In this state, the indicator section may include a light emission deviceattached to the rotary member or the periphery of the rotary member, andthe indicator section may be configured to cause the light emissiondevice to emit light when the rotary member is at the protrudingposition. As described above, since the light emission device informsthe seated passenger by light emission, such informing is easilynoticeable by the seated passenger.

A vehicle seat including the seatbelt assist device and the seat back asdescribed above can be also provided. With the above-describedconfiguration, the vehicle seat is provided, which is configured to usea simple compact configuration to move the seatbelt to the positioneasily reachable by the seated passenger.

Moreover, a vehicle seat including the seatbelt assist device and theseat back as described above can be also provided. The seat backincludes a support portion configured to support the back of the seatedpassenger from behind of the back of the seated passenger, and a lateralportion positioned at the side of the support portion. At least one offront surfaces of the support portion and the lateral portion has anopposing region facing a belt portion of the seatbelt when the seatbeltis at a standby position in an unlocked state. At least a portion of theopposing region is provided with a space formation portion formed by arecessed or raised portion. When the seatbelt is at the standby positionin the unlocked state, the space formation portion forms a space betweenthe opposing region and the belt portion. In the above-describedconfiguration, the space formation portion formed by the recessed orraised portion is provided in at least a portion of the opposing regionfacing the belt portion of the seatbelt. With such a space formationportion, the space (a clearance) is formed between the opposing regionand the belt portion when the seatbelt is at the standby position in theunlocked state. Using such a space (simply, inserting a finger into thespace), the belt portion can be more easily grasped.

In this state, the space formation portion may be formed by the recessedportion. When the seatbelt is at the standby position in the unlockedstate, one end of the recessed portion in a horizontal width directionmay be positioned farther from one end of the belt portion in a widthdirection than from the other end of the belt portion in the widthdirection, and the other end of the recessed portion in the horizontalwidth direction may be positioned between one end and the other end ofthe belt portion in the width direction. In the above-describedconfiguration, the recessed portion is provided at the position close toone of the ends of the belt portion of the seatbelt in the widthdirection. According to such a configuration, the finger is, forexample, inserted into the space of the recessed portion from one endside of the belt portion in the width direction so that the belt portioncan be easily grasped.

According to an embodiment, the rotary member rotates to protrudeforward of the seat to push out a portion of the seatbelt, and therotary member and the belt guide are provided as separate bodies. Thus,the seatbelt assist device having a simple compact configuration can beprovided. According to an embodiment, the seated passenger can much moreeasily take the seatbelt as compared to a typical implementation.According to an embodiment, the rotary member is compactly disposedusing the rotation mechanism, and rotates in the upper-to-lowerdirection to easily push out the seatbelt.

According to an embodiment, clearance formation between the rotarymember and the recessed housing portion can be reduced, leading to amore favorable appearance. Moreover, the trajectory of rotation of therotary member becomes larger, and the amount of movement of the seatbeltcan be ensured. According to an embodiment, the probability of tanglingthe seatbelt can be reduced. Moreover, the rotary member can be biasedtoward the housing position by its own weight, and the probability ofdeforming the rotary member due to the load received from the outsidecan be reduced. According to an embodiment, the rotary member isdisposed at the position more apart from the face of the seatedpassenger as compared to a typical implementation. Thus, the feeling ofdiscomfort of the seated passenger can be reduced. According to anembodiment, displacement of the seatbelt in the right-to-left directioncan be reduced by the position restriction portion.

According to an embodiment, when the seatbelt is attached to a buckle,it is easy to reduce the state in which the rotary member at theprotruding position remains to push out a portion of the seatbelt. Thus,a favorable performance of restraining the seated passenger by theseatbelt can be ensured. Moreover, the probability of pinching a portionof the seatbelt between the rotary member at the protruding position andthe seat back is also reduced. According to an embodiment, recessformation at the front surface of the seat back can be reduced. Thus,the probability of foreign material entry can be reduced. Moreover, thefeeling of discomfort of the seated passenger is reduced, and favorableappearance and merchantability are provided. According to an embodiment,a driven type seatbelt assist device having a relatively simple compactconfiguration can be provided.

According to an embodiment, the seatbelt assist device can be provided,which is configured to use the indicator section such as illumination,sound, or vibration to inform the seated passenger that a portion of theseatbelt has been moved to the position easily reachable by the seatedpassenger. According to an embodiment, since the light emission deviceinforms the seated passenger by light emission, such informing is easilynoticeable by the seated passenger. According to an embodiment, thevehicle seat is provided, which is configured to use the simple compactconfiguration to move the seatbelt to the position easily reachable bythe seated passenger. According to an embodiment, the vehicle seat isprovided, which is configured to use a relatively simple configurationto realize easy grasping of the belt portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a vehicle seat of anembodiment.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main portion of FIG. 1, and is anexternal perspective view of a belt assist device.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the belt assist device.

FIG. 4A is a side cross-sectional view of the belt assist device, and isa view of a housing position.

FIG. 4B is a view of a protruding position of the belt assist device.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an electric structure of the belt assistdevice.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an example method of control of the belt assistdevice.

FIG. 7 is an external perspective view of a belt assist device of asecond embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the belt assist device of thesecond embodiment.

FIG. 9A is a side cross-sectional view of the belt assist device of thesecond embodiment, and is a view of a housing position.

FIG. 9B is a view of a protruding position of the belt assist device.

FIG. 10A is an external perspective view of a belt assist device of athird embodiment, and is a view of a housing position.

FIG. 10B is a view of a protruding position of the belt assist device.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a belt assist device of a fourthembodiment, and is a view in the state in which a rotary member is at aprotruding position.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the belt assist device of the fourthembodiment, and is a view in the state in which the rotary member is ata housing position.

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of the belt assist device of thefourth embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the belt assist device of the fourthembodiment from a back side.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the belt assist device of thefourth embodiment, and is a view in the state in which a cover materialis hooked with the cover material being sandwiched between a supportplate and a housing plate.

FIG. 16A is a view of a front cover for protecting a motor and a driveshaft of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 16B is a view of a back cover for protecting the motor and thedrive shaft.

FIG. 17 is a longitudinal sectional view of the belt assist device ofthe fourth embodiment, and is a view in the state in which the driveshaft, a worm gear, and a wheel gear engage with each other.

FIG. 18 is an external perspective view of a belt assist device of afifth embodiment.

FIG. 19 is an exploded perspective view of the belt assist device of thefifth embodiment.

FIG. 20A is a side cross-sectional view of the belt assist device of thefifth embodiment, and is a view for describing a housing position.

FIG. 20B is a view for describing a protruding position of the beltassist device.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram of an electric structure of the belt assistdevice of the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart of an example method of control of the beltassist device of the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 23 is an external perspective view of a belt assist device of asixth embodiment.

FIG. 24 is an exploded perspective view of the belt assist device of thesixth embodiment.

FIG. 25 is an exploded perspective view of the belt assist device of thesixth embodiment.

FIG. 26 is an external perspective view of a belt assist device of aseventh embodiment.

FIG. 27 is a side cross-sectional view of the belt assist device of theseventh embodiment.

FIG. 28 is an external perspective view of a belt assist device of aneighth embodiment.

FIG. 29 is a front cross-sectional view of the belt assist device of theeighth embodiment.

FIG. 30 is an external perspective view of a belt assist device of aninth embodiment.

FIG. 31 is a perspective view of a vehicle seat of a tenth embodiment.

FIG. 32 is a view for describing a space formation portion of the tenthembodiment, and is a cross-sectional view along an A-A line of FIG. 31.

FIG. 33 is an exploded view of the space formation portion of the tenthembodiment.

FIG. 34 is a view for describing the space formation portion of thetenth embodiment, and is a cross-sectional view along a B-B line of FIG.32.

FIG. 35 is a view of a variation of the shape of the space formationportion.

FIG. 36 is a perspective view of a vehicle seat of an eleventhembodiment.

FIG. 37 is a view of a variation regarding the number of space formationportions to be arranged.

FIG. 38 is a view of a variation regarding the arrangement position ofeach space formation portion, and is a schematic cross-sectional view ofa lateral portion along the horizontal plane.

FIG. 39 is a perspective view of a vehicle seat of a twelfth embodiment.

FIG. 40 is a view for describing a space formation portion of thetwelfth embodiment, and is a cross-sectional view along a C-C line ofFIG. 39.

FIG. 41 is a view for describing a space formation portion of athirteenth embodiment, and is a schematic cross-sectional view of theperiphery of the space formation portion along the vertical plane at afirst time.

FIG. 42 is a view for describing the space formation portion of thethirteenth embodiment, and is a schematic cross-sectional view of theperiphery of the space formation portion along the vertical plane at asecond time.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

First to fifth embodiments of the present disclosure are described belowwith reference to FIGS. 1 to 17.

First Embodiment of Belt Assist Device

The present embodiment relates to a vehicle seat including a seatbeltassist device attached to a lateral portion of a seat back and beingconfigured to move a portion of a seatbelt placed on the lateral portionto a position easily reachable by a seated passenger. The seatbeltassist device includes a rotary member attached to a recessed housingportion of the lateral portion via a rotary shaft and configured torotate up and down between a housing position at which the rotary memberis housed in the seat back and a protruding position at which the rotarymember rotates to protrude forward of the seat back to push out aportion of the seatbelt. The rotary member is disposed forward of a beltguide provided at the periphery of an upper end of the seat back. Notethat in the description herein, a passenger seating side with respect tothe seat back of the vehicle seat is referred to as a front side.

A vehicle seat S of the present embodiment is a rear seat equivalent toa back seat of a vehicle, for example. Note that the vehicle seat S canbe also utilized as a middle seat in the second row in a vehicleincluding three rows of seats in a vehicle front-to-back direction. Asillustrated in FIG. 1, the vehicle seat S generally includes a seat bodyhaving a seat cushion 1, a seat back 2, and a head rest 3; and aseatbelt assist device 30 (hereinafter referred to as “belt assistdevices 30”) attached to an upper portion of a lateral portion of theseat back 2 in a right-to-left direction. Note that a belt guide 13configured to guide an extension direction of a seatbelt 10 is providedat the periphery of an upper end of the lateral portion of the seat back2 in the right-to-left direction, specifically a back portion withrespect to the lateral portion in the right-to-left direction.

The vehicle seat S is a seat utilizing the belt assist device 30 to moveat least a portion of the seatbelt 10 placed on the lateral portion ofthe seat back 2 in the right-to-left direction to a position easilyreached by a seated passenger's hand. Specifically, the vehicle seat Sis a seat configured to operate the belt assist device 30 to push out aportion of the seatbelt 10 from behind such that a clearance is formedbetween a front surface of the seat back 2 and the seatbelt 10 andbetween an upper end of the seat back 2 and the seatbelt 10. Details aredescribed below.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the seat cushion 1 is a seating portionconfigured to support the passenger from below, and is configured suchthat a cushion pad placed on a cushion frame (not shown) as a frameworkis covered with a cover material from above the cushion pad. The seatback 2 is a backrest configured to support the back of the passengerfrom behind, and is configured such that a cushion pad placed on a backframe (not shown) as a framework is covered with a cover material. Thelateral portion of the seat back 2 in the right-to-left direction isformed as a back side portion 20 configured to support an upper sideportion of the seated passenger. The head rest 3 is a head portionconfigured to support the head of the passenger from behind, and isconfigured such that a cushion pad placed on a pillar (not shown) as acore is covered with a cover material.

The seatbelt 10 is a band-shaped member configured to restrain the upperbody of the passenger, and is placed to extend from an upper surface toa front surface of the back side portion 20 of the seat back 2. A tongueplate 11 is slidably attached to the seatbelt 10, and is fitted into abuckle 12 provided at a predetermined position of the seat cushion 1. Alower end side 10 a of the seatbelt 10 is pulled in between a lower endof the seat back 2 and a back end of the seat cushion 1, and then, isfixed to a predetermined position of a vehicle body member behind theseat body. Moreover, an upper end side 10 b is slidably inserted intothe belt guide 13 behind an upper end of the back side portion 20, andis pulled toward a location behind a back surface of the seat back 2from a back portion of the upper end of the seat back 2. Then, thepulled end portion is attached to an automatic winding device (notshown).

The belt guide 13 is a member made of hard resin and configured to guidethe extension direction of the seatbelt 10 toward the front side, and isprovided with a guide hole 13 a into which the seatbelt 10 can beinserted. The belt assist device 30 is disposed at a front position ofthe belt guide 13.

The back side portion 20 is configured such that a cushion pad 20 b(FIG. 15) placed on a resin side base 20 a is covered with a covermaterial 20 c. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the side base 20 a includes aframe member having a substantially inverted L-shaped longitudinalsection, and is configured to house the belt assist device 30 and anairbag module 50. The side base 20 a is provided with a recessed housingportion 21 recessed backward from an upper wall portion to a front wallportion at an upper position of the side base 20 a, a recessed airbaghousing portion 22 recessed backward at the front wall portion at alower position of the recessed housing portion 21, and a belt facingrecessed portion 23 recessed backward at the front wall portion at alower position of the recessed airbag housing portion 22.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the recessed housing portion 21 is formed insuch a manner that a recessed housing plate 21 b is, by snap-fitting,fixed to a substantially rectangular opening 21 a provided at the sidebase 20 a. Similarly, the recessed airbag housing portion 22 is formedin such a manner that a recessed housing plate 22 b is, by snap-fitting,fixed to a substantially rectangular opening 22 a provided at the sidebase 20 a, and the belt facing recessed portion 23 is formed in such amanner that a recessed housing plate 23 b is, by snap-fitting, fixed toa substantially rectangular opening 23 a provided at the side base 20 a.In the above-described configuration, the belt assist device 30 ishoused from the front side in the recessed housing portion 21, and theairbag module 50 is housed from the front side in the recessed airbaghousing portion 22, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the belt facing recessed portion 23 is arecessed portion elongated along the extension direction of the seatbelt10, and is disposed at a position facing a portion of the seatbelt 10.Moreover, the belt facing recessed portion 23 is formed to be wider thanthe seatbelt 10. A clearance is formed between the belt facing recessedportion 23 and the seatbelt 10, and therefore, arrangement is made suchthat a child as the seated passenger can grasp the seatbelt 10 whileinserting her hand into the clearance, for example.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the belt assist device 30 is an assist deviceconfigured to push a portion of the seatbelt 10 forward and upward. Asillustrated in FIG. 3, the belt assist device 30 generally includes amotor 31 housed in the recessed housing portion 21, a recessed supportplate 32 fixed, by snap-fitting, to the recessed housing portion 21 tocover the motor 31 from the front side, a rotary shaft 33 pivotallysupported in the support plate 32, a rotary member 34 attached via therotary shaft 33, and an auxiliary spring 35 configured to bias therotary member 34 toward a protruding position.

As illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the belt assist device 30 is a deviceconfigured to rotate the rotary member 34 between a housing position atwhich the rotary member 34 is housed in the recessed housing portion 21of the seat back 2 and the protruding position at which the rotarymember 34 protrudes forward of the seat back 2 to push out a portion ofthe seatbelt 10. The belt assist device 30 is configured as follows:when the rotary member 34 is at the housing position as illustrated inFIG. 4A, the belt assist device 30 is substantially integrally housedwithout protruding beyond an outer surface of the seat back 2; and whenthe rotary member 34 is at the protruding position illustrated in FIG.4B, the belt assist device 30 partially protrudes beyond the outersurface of the seat back 2 to push a portion of the seatbelt 10 forwardand upward.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4A, and 4B, the motor 31 is a stroke motorconfigured to move up and down the rotary member 34, and is attached toan attachment target portion 32 a provided in the support plate 32. Themotor 31 generally includes a motor body 31 a and a cylinder 31 battached to move up and down relative to the motor body 31 a, and isconnected to a vehicle power source 42 via a drive circuit 41 (describedbelow). When drive power is supplied to the motor body 31 a, thecylinder 31 b is configured to lower to a predetermined lowered positionin response to each sensor (described below) and to lift to apredetermined lifted position (a standby position) in response to eachsensor. When supply of the drive power is stopped, the cylinder 31 b isconfigured to be stopped and held at a stop position.

A support shaft 31 c extending in the right-to-left direction ispivotally supported in the state in which the support shaft 31 c isinserted into an opening provided at a protruding tip end portion of thecylinder 31 b. The support shaft 31 c passes through an opening 32 bprovided at a back surface of the support plate 32, and then, is furtherpivotally supported by a support hole 34 b provided at a back surface ofthe rotary member 34. With the above-described configuration, the motor31 can move up and down the cylinder 31 b to operate the rotary member34 via the support shaft 31 c in an interlocking manner.

The support plate 32 is a resin plate configured to rotatably supportthe rotary member 34, and a pair of support holes 32 c configured topivotally support the rotary shaft 33 are formed respectively at rightand left lateral wall portions of the support plate 32. The rotary shaft33 extends in the right-to-left direction, and is further pivotallysupported by a shaft hole 34 c and a pair of shaft holes 34 d of therotary member 34 with the rotary shaft 33 being pivotally supported bythe pair of support holes 32 c. The rotary shaft 33 is attached to upperportions (upper end portions) of the support plate 32 and the rotarymember 34.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the rotary member 34 includes a substantiallyrecessed resin plate. The rotary member 34 is a member configured topush out a portion of the seatbelt 10 from behind, and is rotatablyprovided between the housing position of FIG. 4A and the protrudingposition of FIG. 4B. A reinforcement rib 34 a is formed to extendbackward from a center portion of a back surface of a front wall portionof the rotary member 34 in the right-to-left direction. Thereinforcement rib 34 a is provided with the support hole 34 b configuredto pivotally support the support shaft 31 c and the shaft hole 34 cconfigured to pivotally support the rotary shaft 33. Moreover, the pairof shaft holes 34 d configured to further pivotally support the rotaryshaft 33 are formed respectively at right and left lateral wall portionsof the rotary member 34.

In the above-described configuration, the rotary member 34 is disposedto move to the protruding position of FIG. 4B in such a manner that therotary member 34 rotates upward about the rotary shaft 33 from thehousing position of FIG. 4A to protrude forward of the seat. The rotarymember 34 is configured such that an angle with the seat back 2 is equalto or smaller than about 90 degrees when the rotary member 34 has movedto the protruding position.

Moreover, in the above-described configuration, the rotary member 34includes the right and left lateral wall portions each bent continuouslyfrom a corresponding one of right and left end portions of the frontwall portion and extending backward. Thus, when the rotary member 34moves from the housing position to the protruding position or when therotary member 34 is at the protruding position, pinching of the seatbelt10 can be reduced.

Further, in the above-described configuration, the reinforcement rib 34a is formed on the back surface of the front wall portion of the rotarymember 34. The reinforcement rib 34 a pivotally supports the supportshaft 31 c and the rotary shaft 33. Thus, rigidity of the rotary memberand attachment rigidity of the rotary member can be improved.

In addition, in the above-described configuration, a curvature radius isprovided to a corner portion between the front wall portion and an upperwall portion of the rotary member 34 and a corner portion between thefront wall portion and a bottom wall portion of the rotary member 34.Thus, these corner portions have no sharp edge, and therefore, safetycan be ensured. Moreover, rigidity of the corner portions can beensured, leading to favorable moldability.

Moreover, in the above-described configuration, a pair of protrudingportions (not shown) protruding forward are formed respectively at rightand left end portions of a front surface of the rotary member 34. Thepair of protruding portions functions as a position restriction portionconfigured to sandwich a portion of the seatbelt 10 in the right-to-leftdirection when the rotary member 34 is at the protruding position,leading to reduction in displacement of the seatbelt 10 in theright-to-left direction.

Further, in the above-described configuration, a front surface of thefront wall portion as an outer surface of the rotary member 34 iscovered with the same cover material as that of the back side portion20. Thus, a feeling of discomfort of the seated passenger between theback side portion 20 and the rotary member 34 (the belt assist device30) can be reduced, and a favorable appearance is also provided. Notethat the resin rotary member 34 and the cover material may be integrallymolded, or may be bonded together.

Control Section of Belt Assist Device

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the belt assist device 30 includes anelectronic control unit (ECU) circuit 40 as a control section, the drivecircuit 41 configured to supply the drive power to the motor 31, and thevehicle power source 42 connected to the motor via the drive circuit.

The ECU 40 is configured to control the drive power supplied from thedrive circuit 41 to the motor 31 to control ON or OFF of current of anelectromagnetic clutch (not shown), thereby controlling lifting/loweringof the motor 31, i.e., rotation of the rotary member 34. Moreover, theECU 40 is connected to a seating sensor 43 provided at the seat cushion1 and configured to detect that the passenger has been seated on theseat body, a door sensor 44 provided at a vehicle door and configured todetect that the vehicle door has been closed, and a buckle sensor 45provided at each buckle 12 and configured to detect that the tongueplate 11 has been coupled with the buckle 12. In the above-describedconfiguration, the ECU 40 controls operation of the motor 31, i.e.,operation of the rotary member 34, based on a signal input from eachsensor.

Processing of a flowchart of FIG. 6 is repeatedly executed during aperiod for which, e.g., control is made by the ECU 40 to turn on anignition switch of a vehicle. In a normal state, the belt assist device30 is at the housing position illustrated in FIG. 4A, and is integrallyhoused without protruding beyond the outer surface of the seat back 2 asillustrated in FIG. 1. The seatbelt 10 substantially closely contactsthe outer surface of the seat back 2.

When the processing of the flowchart of FIG. 6 begins, it is, at a stepST1, first determined whether or not the seating sensor 43 is ON. Whenthe seating sensor 43 is not ON (step ST1: No), nobody is seated on thevehicle seat S. Thus, an OFF signal is transmitted to the drive circuit41, and supply of the drive power from the drive circuit 41 to the motor31 is stopped to terminate the processing.

When the seating sensor 43 is ON (step ST1: Yes), it is, at a step ST2,further determined whether or not the door sensor 44 is ON. When thedoor sensor 44 is not ON (step ST2: No), the passenger has been seatedon the vehicle seat S, but the vehicle door is not closed. Thus, thestep ST2 is repeated until the vehicle door is closed.

When the door sensor 44 is ON (step ST2: Yes), it is determined that thepassenger has been seated on the vehicle seat S, and that the vehicledoor has been closed. However, it is determined that the seatbelt 10 hasnot been fastened yet. Thus, at a step ST3, an ON signal is transmittedto the drive circuit 41, and the drive power is supplied from the drivecircuit 41 to the motor 31. Accordingly, the motor 31 (the cylinder 31b) lowers to the predetermined lowered position, and such loweringmovement is transmitted to the rotary member 34 via the support shaft 31c. Then, the rotary member 34 rotates upward about the rotary shaft 33to the protruding position. The rotary member 34 rotates upward toprotrude forward, thereby pushing the seatbelt 10 forward and upward.

Next, at a step ST4, it is determined whether or not the buckle sensor45 at a position corresponding to the seating sensor 43 in an ON stateis ON. When the buckle sensor 45 is not ON (step ST4: No), it isdetermined that the passenger has been seated but the seatbelt 10 hasnot been fastened yet, and the drive power is continuously supplied fromthe drive circuit 41 to the motor 31. Note that when the motor 31 (thecylinder 31 b) has already lowered to the lowered position, the motor 31(the cylinder 31 b) is held at the lowered position even when supply ofthe drive power is stopped.

The step ST4 is repeated until the buckle sensor 45 is turned on oruntil a predetermined period of time is elapsed after start of loweringof the motor 31 at a step ST5. Accordingly, the motor 31 (the cylinder31 b) is held at the predetermined lowered position, and the rotarymember 34 is held at the protruding position. The seatbelt 10 is heldwith the seatbelt 10 being pushed out by the rotary member 34. Note thatat this point, an announcement such as “please fasten the seatbelt,”warning sound, or vibration may be simultaneously emitted.

When the buckle sensor 45 is ON (step ST4: Yes), the seated passenger onthe vehicle seat S has fastened the seatbelt 10. Thus, at a step ST6,another ON signal is transmitted to the drive circuit 41, and the drivepower is supplied from the drive circuit 41 to the motor 31.Accordingly, the motor 31 (the cylinder 31 b) lifts to the predeterminedlifted position (the standby position), and such lifting movement istransmitted to the rotary member 34 via the support shaft 31 c. Then,the rotary member 34 rotates downward from the protruding position tothe housing position. Alternatively, when the predetermined period oftime has been elapsed at the step ST5, the seated passenger does notfasten the seatbelt 10 yet, but the processing proceeds to a step ST6.

When the motor 31 (the cylinder 31 b) has lifted to the predeterminedlifted position (the standby position) (step ST7: Yes), an OFF signal istransmitted to the drive circuit 41 at a step ST8. Then, supply of thedrive power from the drive circuit 41 to the motor 31 is stopped.Accordingly, the motor 31 is held at the lifted position, and the rotarymember 34 is held at the housing position. Note that when the motor 31does not lift to the lifted position (step ST7: No), the step ST7 isrepeated. The processing of FIG. 6 ends through the steps ST1 or ST8described above.

By the above-described processing flow, before the seated passenger onthe vehicle seat S fastens the seatbelt 10, the belt assist device 30can move at least a portion of the seatbelt 10 to the position easilyreached by the seated passenger's hand. After the seated passenger hasfastened the seatbelt 10, the belt assist device 30 is integrally housedin the vehicle seat S without causing obstruction.

Note that in the above-described processing flow, determination on bothof the seating sensor 43 and the door sensor 44 is required at the stepsST1, ST2, but the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limitedto such a configuration. Needless to say, determination on any one ofthe seating sensor 43 or the door sensor 44 may be omitted. Moreover,when the predetermined period of time has been elapsed at the step ST5,the processing also proceeds to the step ST6 to start lifting of themotor 31 to start movement of the rotary member 34 from the protrudingposition to the housing position. However, it may be configured suchthat the processing does not proceed to the step ST6 until the bucklesensor 45 is turned on at the step ST4, needless to say.

Second Embodiment of Belt Assist Device

Next, the second embodiment of the belt assist device is described withreference to FIGS. 7 to 9. Note that contents overlapping with those ofthe above-described belt assist device 30 will not be repeated. A beltassist device 130 of the second embodiment is attached to an upperportion of a back side portion 120.

The belt assist device 130 generally includes a support 132 fixed, bysnap-fitting, to a substantially inverted T-shaped opening 121 aprovided at a side base 120 a, a rotary shaft 133 pivotally supported inthe support 132, and a rotary member 134 attached via the rotary shaft133. Note that a drive motor (not shown) configured to drive the rotarymember 134 is attached to the rotary member 134.

As illustrated in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the belt assist device 130 is adevice configured to rotate the rotary member 134 between a housingposition at which the rotary member 134 is housed in a housing portion121 of the back side portion 120 and a protruding position at which therotary member 134 protrudes forward of the back side portion 120 to pushout a portion of a seatbelt 10.

The support 132 is a resin body configured to rotatably support therotary member 134, and a pair of support holes 132 c configured topivotally support the rotary shaft 133 are formed respectively at rightand left lateral wall portions of the support 132. Moreover, a pluralityof substantially columnar coupling portions 132 d coupling the right andleft lateral wall portions together are provided at an upper portion ofthe support 132. The rotary shaft 133 extends in a right-to-leftdirection, and is further pivotally supported by a shaft hole 134 c ofthe rotary member 134 with the rotary shaft 133 being pivotallysupported by the pair of support holes 132 c. Further, the rotary shaft133 is attached to lower portions (lower end portions) of the support132 and the rotary member 134.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, the rotary member 134 is a member including aresin plate and configured to push out a portion of the seatbelt 10 frombehind. The rotary member 134 is rotatably provided between the housingposition of FIG. 9A and the protruding position of FIG. 9B. Areinforcement rib 134 a illustrated in FIGS. 9A and 9B is formed toextend backward from a center portion of a back surface of the rotarymember 134 in the right-to-left direction. Moreover, the shaft hole 134c extending in the right-to-left direction is, across the right-to-leftdirection, integrally attached to a lower portion of the back surface ofthe rotary member 34. The rotary shaft 133 is inserted into the shafthole 134 c across the right-to-left direction.

In the above-described configuration, the rotary member 134 is disposedto move to the protruding position of FIG. 9B in such a manner that therotary member 134 rotates downward about the rotary shaft 133 from thehousing position of FIG. 9A to protrude forward of a seat. The rotarymember 134 is configured such that an angle with the back side portion120 is equal to or smaller than about 90 degrees when the rotary member134 has moved to the protruding position.

Moreover, in the above-described configuration, when the rotary member134 has moved to the protruding position, the reinforcement rib 134 a isdisposed to contact the coupling portions 132 d of the support 132.Thus, the rotary member 134 can be positioned at the protrudingposition, and can be stably supported by the support 132.

Third Embodiment of Belt Assist Device

Next, the third embodiment of the belt assist device is described withreference to FIGS. 10A and 10B. A belt assist device 230 of the thirdembodiment is attached to an upper portion of a back side portion 220.The belt assist device 230 generally includes a rotary shaft 233pivotally supported in a side base 220 a, and a rotary member 234attached via the rotary shaft 233. Note that a drive motor (not shown)configured to drive the rotary member 234 is attached to the rotarymember 234.

As illustrated in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the belt assist device 230 is adevice configured to rotate the resin rotary member 234 having a rotaryshape between a housing position at which the rotary member 234 ishoused in a housing portion 221 of the back side portion 220 and aprotruding position at which the rotary member 234 partially protrudesforward of the back side portion 220 to push out a portion of a seatbelt10. With the above-described configuration, the belt assist device 230having a simple compact configuration can be provided.

Fourth Embodiment of Belt Assist Device

Next, the fourth embodiment of the belt assist device is described withreference to FIGS. 11 to 17. A belt assist device 330 of the fourthembodiment is a device configured to rotate a rotary member 334 betweena protruding position illustrated in FIG. 11 and a housing positionillustrated in FIG. 12.

The rotary member 334 is attached to a lateral portion of a seat back 2in a right-to-left direction as illustrated in FIG. 1. Of right and leftend portions of the rotary member 334, an inner end portion close to acenter portion of the seat back 2 is provided with a cutout portion 334d cut out in a substantially rectangular shape toward an outer endportion farther from the center portion of the seat back 2. Asillustrated in FIG. 11, the cutout portion 334 d is more cut out towardthe outer end portion when extending from a lower end portion to anupper end portion of the rotary member 334. Thus, as illustrated in FIG.11, when a seatbelt 10 is pulled toward a seated passenger's body sothat a seated passenger can fasten the seatbelt 10, the rotary member334 is easily used without a portion of the seatbelt 10 being pinched ina clearance between the rotary member 334 at the protruding position andthe seat back 2.

Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 11, lower end portions of right andleft end portions of a front surface of the rotary member 334 areprovided respectively with a position restriction portion 334 eprotruding forward and configured to restrict movement of the seatbelt10 in the right-to-left direction. In other words, the rotary member 334is in such a shape that a center portion of the front surface of therotary member 334 is recessed backward of the right and left endportions. Thus, when the rotary member 334 is at the protruding positionat which a portion of the seatbelt 10 is pushed forward, the right andleft position restriction portions 334 e can reduce displacement of theseatbelt 10 in the right-to-left direction, and therefore, the seatbelt10 can be stably pushed out.

The rotary member 334 is attached to a recessed housing portion 321provided at the seat back 2, the recessed housing portion 321 beingconfigured to house the rotary member 334. As illustrated in FIGS. 12and 13, a support plate 332 configured to support the rotary member 334is attached between the rotary member 334 and the recessed housingportion 321, the support plate 332 being configured to house the rotarymember 334. A portion of the support plate 332 corresponding to thecutout portion 334 d is provided with a protruding raised portion 332 eprotruding forward toward the rotary member 334. The protruding raisedportion 332 e includes a substantially rectangular body, and issubstantially formed flush with the front surface of the rotary member334 when a front surface of the protruding raised portion 332 e is atthe housing position illustrated in FIG. 12.

The recessed housing portion 321 is formed in such a manner that arecessed housing plate 321 b is attached to an opening formed at theseat back 2. Specifically, as illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13, backattachment portions 321 c protruding respectively toward outer right andleft sides and being attachable respectively to attachment targetportions (not shown) provided at the seat back 2 are formed respectivelyat right and left end portions of the housing plate 321 b. Asillustrated in FIG. 14, a body attachment portion 321 d protrudingbackward toward a vehicle body (a transportation body) and beingattachable to an attachment target portion (not shown) provided at avehicle body is formed on a back surface of the housing plate 321 b.Thus, assembly rigidity of the housing plate 321 b with the seat back 2and the vehicle body is stabilized.

Note that as illustrated in FIG. 14, a rotary shaft 333 of the rotarymember 334 is disposed at a position facing the body attachment portion321 d in a direction of attachment of the housing plate 321 b to thesupport plate 332. Thus, the rotary shaft 333 is, at the housing plate321 b, disposed near the body attachment portion 321 d whose rigidity isrelatively enhanced, and therefore, rotation of the rotary member 334 iseasily stabilized.

Of the housing plate 321 b, a substantially center portion and a portioncorresponding to the protruding raised portion 332 e are provided with asnap-fit hole 321 e facing a hole (not shown) provided at a back surfaceof the support plate 332 and being attachable to the support plate 332by snap-fitting, as illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14. Thus, assembly ofthe housing plate 321 b with the support plate 332 is stabilized.

As illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 15, a plurality of hook claw portions 321f for hooking of an end portion of a cover material 20 c are formed atouter right and left surfaces of the housing plate 321 b, the hook clawportions 321 f being formed with spacing in an upper-to-lower direction.Specifically, the end portion of the cover material 20 c extends tocover a cushion pad 20 b, and then, is attached with the cover material20 c being sandwiched in a front-to-back direction between the housingplate 321 b and the support plate 332, as illustrated in FIG. 15.Opening holes 20 ca provided on a tip end side of such an end portionare hooked onto the hook claw portions 321 f. Thus, attachability of theend portion of the cover material 20 c is stabilized, and appearance andmerchantability are improved without causing recesses, wrinkles, gaps,etc. at the end portion of the cover material 20 c at the periphery ofthe rotary member 334.

Further, the belt assist device 330 generally includes, as illustratedin FIG. 14, a motor 331 housed in the recessed housing portion 321, anda drive shaft 331 b interposed between the motor 331 and the rotarymember 334 and configured to move up and down in association withdriving of the motor 331 to rotate the rotary member 334.

As illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 16, the motor 331 is a rotary motorincluding a drive shaft extending in the right-to-left direction, and isattached to the back surface of the housing plate 321 b. Specifically,the motor 331 is assembled with the motor 331 being sandwiched in thefront-to-back direction between a front cover 336 and a back cover 337as resin molded articles. Moreover, the motor 331 is held with the motor331 being sandwiched in the upper-to-lower direction between upper andlower protruding holding portions 321 g formed on the back surface ofthe housing plate 321 b. Further, the front cover 336 and the back cover337 are assembled with these covers 336, 337 being sandwiched in alateral cover 338 in the front-to-back direction. Thus, assembly of themotor 331 with the housing plate 321 b is stabilized.

As illustrated in FIG. 17, a wheel gear 331 d configured to rotate aboutan axis along the right-to-left direction in association with driving ofthe motor 331 and a worm gear 331 e engaging with the wheel gear 331 dand configured to rotate about an axis along the front-to-back directionin association with rotation of the wheel gear 331 d are attached to atip end of the drive shaft of the motor 331. A screw gear portion of thedrive shaft 331 b on an outer surface thereof engages with the worm gear331 e such that the drive shaft 331 b lifts/lowers while rotating aboutan axis along the upper-to-lower direction in association with rotationof the worm gear 331 e.

As illustrated in FIG. 17, the drive shaft 331 b is configured such thatan upper end side thereof is attached to a reinforcement rib 334 aprovided on a back surface of the rotary member 334 and such that alower end side thereof is attached to the drive shaft of the motor 331.The drive shaft 331 b is disposed forward of a seat with respect to thedrive shaft of the motor 331. As illustrated in FIGS. 16 and 17, asupport 331 f coupling the rotary member 334 (the reinforcement rib 334a) and the drive shaft 331 b together and including a support shaftportion 331 c extending along the right-to-left direction is attached toan upper end portion of the drive shaft 331 b. Thus, lifting/lowering ofthe drive shaft 331 b can be efficiently transmitted to the rotarymember.

The support 331 f includes a substantially T-shaped body. An upperportion of the support 331 f is the support shaft portion 331 cconfigured to support the rotary member 334, and a lower portion of thesupport 331 f is a portion coupled with the drive shaft 331 b. Thesupport 331 f is configured to transmit lifting/lowering of the driveshaft 331 b to the rotary member 334. Note that a structure ispreferably made, in which the drive shaft 331 b idles in the support 331f. Note that the support 331 f and the support shaft portion 331 c maybe formed as separate bodies. In the case of the separate bodies, it maybe configured such that the support shaft portion 331 c is pivotallysupported by an opening provided at the support 331 f.

In the above-described configuration, the motor 331 is disposed withoutprotruding outward from upper and lower ends of the housing plate 321 band without protruding outward from right and left ends of the housingplate 321 b, as illustrated in FIG. 14. Thus, compact attachment to theseat back 2 can be provided, and a clearance with respect to avehicle-side body panel or other peripheral components is easilyensured.

Moreover, in the above-described configuration, the motor 331 isdisposed at a lower portion of the back surface of the housing plate 321b at a position different from an upper portion provided with the bodyattachment portion 321 d, as illustrated in FIG. 14. Thus, contactbetween the motor 331 and each of the body attachment portion 321 d andthe vehicle body can be reduced, leading to compact arrangement.

Other Embodiments

In the above-described embodiment, the belt assist device 30 isconfigured to rotate the rotary member 34 by lifting/lowering of themotor 31 as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, but the present disclosure isnot limited to the stroke motor. Driving of other well-known drivemotors, actuators, springs, etc. may be utilized to rotate the rotarymember 34.

Moreover, in the above-described embodiment, the rotary member 34 isattached to the upper portion of the back side portion 20 of the seatback 2 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, but the present disclosure isnot limited to such a configuration. Needless to say, the rotary member34 may be attached to a center or lower portion in the upper-to-lowerdirection. For example, the rotary member 34 is preferably disposed at alower position of a lower end of the head rest 3, and is preferablydisposed at a lower position of the upper end of the seat back 2.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the rotary member 34 isformed as the resin member, but is changeable without limiting thepresent disclosure to such a rotary member. For example, the rotarymember 34 may be formed as a metal member. Note that when the rotarymember 34 is made of resin, the reinforcement rib 34 a, a lateral wallflange portion, etc. can be integrally molded, and rigidity can berelatively easily improved.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, a rubber member such asan elastomer material may be separately attached to upper end portionsand lower end portions of the rotary member 34. With such aconfiguration, positioning is facilitated in opening/closing of therotary member 34, and rattling can be reduced.

Moreover, in the above-described embodiment, the pair of protrudingportions (not shown) protruding forward is formed respectively at theright and left end portions of the front surface of the rotary member34, and function as the position restriction portion for the position ofthe seatbelt 10 in the right-to-left direction. However, this ischangeable without limiting the present disclosure to such aconfiguration. For example, a recessed portion recessed backward at acenter portion of the front surface of the rotary member 34 in theright-to-left direction may be formed as the position restrictionportion.

Fifth to ninth embodiments of the present disclosure are described withreference to FIGS. 18 to 30.

Fifth Embodiment of Belt Assist Device

The present embodiment relates to a vehicle seat including a seatbeltassist device attached to a seat back and being configured to move aportion of a seatbelt placed on the seat back to a position easilyreachable by a seated passenger. The seatbelt assist device includes amovable member attached to a recessed housing portion of the seat backvia a rotary shaft and configured to rotate up and down between ahousing position at which the movable member is housed in the seat backand a protruding position at which the movable member rotates toprotrude forward of the seat back to push out a portion of the seatbelt,and an indicator section configured to inform the seated passenger, bylight emission, that the movable member is at the protruding position.Note that the movable member is equivalent to a rotary member.

As illustrated in FIG. 18, a vehicle seat S is a seat configured toinform a seated passenger by light emission while a belt assist device30 is pushing out a portion of a seatbelt 10. The belt assist device 30is an assist device configured to push a portion of the seatbelt 10forward and upward, as well as being configured to inform the seatedpassenger, by light emission, that a portion of the seatbelt 10 has beenpushed out.

As illustrated in FIG. 19, the belt assist device 30 generally includesa motor 31, a support plate 32, a rotary shaft 33, a movable member 34,and an auxiliary spring 35. Moreover, the belt assist device 30 furtherincludes a light emission device 60 (a light guide body 62) assembledsuch that a portion of the light emission device 60 is exposed behindthe movable member 34 in the movable member 34 and being configured toemit light from the exposed portion.

As illustrated in FIGS. 20A and 20B, the belt assist device 30 is adevice configured to rotate the movable member 34 between a housingposition at which the movable member 34 is housed in a recessed housingportion 21 of a seat back 2 and a protruding position at which themovable member 34 protrudes forward of the seat back 2 to push out aportion of the seatbelt 10. It is configured to inform, by lightemission from the light emission device 60, the seated passenger of themovable member 34 being at the protruding position.

At a center portion of a back surface of a front wall portion of themovable member 34 in a right-to-left direction, a reinforcement rib 34 ais formed to extend backward as illustrated in FIG. 19. Thereinforcement rib 34 a is provided with a support hole 34 b configuredto pivotally support a support shaft 31 c and a shaft hole 34 cconfigured to pivotally support the rotary shaft 33. Moreover, a pair ofshaft holes 34 d configured to further pivotally support the rotaryshaft 33 are formed respectively at right and left lateral wall portionsof the movable member 34.

A support rib 34 e slightly extending toward the seated passenger in theright-to-left direction and configured to support the light guide body62 (described below) in an assembled state thereof is formed at anextending end portion of the reinforcement rib 34 a. A substantiallyL-shaped slit 34 f is formed to continuously extend across a frontsurface of the movable member 34 and a lateral surface of the movablemember 34 close to the seated passenger in the right-to-left direction.The slit 34 f is provided such that the light guide body 62 (describedbelow) is partially exposed in the assembled state of the light guidebody 62.

The light emission device 60 is a device configured to inform the seatedpassenger, by light emission, that the movable member 34 is at theprotruding position. The light emission device 60 generally includes alight source body 61 configured to emit light as illustrated in FIGS.20A and 20B, and the light guide body 62 configured to guide the lightemitted from the light source body 61 as illustrated in FIGS. 19 and 20.The light emission device 60 is connected to a vehicle power source 42via a drive circuit 46 equivalent to a harness (described below). Thelight source body 61 is an LED light source unit. The light source body61 is attached to an inner surface of an upper wall portion of themovable member 34, and is disposed in such a direction that light can beemitted to the light guide body 62. Moreover, the light source body 61is connected to the vehicle power source 42 via the drive circuit 46.

The light guide body 62 is a light guide plate made of polycarbonateresin, and is in such a shape that the light guide body 62 can beassembled with a seated-passenger-side half of an inner back portion ofthe movable member 34 in the right-to-left direction. The light guidebody 62 is assembled such that a portion of the light guide body 62 isexposed to the outside through the slit 34 f of the movable member 34.The light guide body 62 is designed to receive light into the lightguide body 62 via a light reception surface close to the light sourcebody 61 and to optionally reflect and guide the received light toward afront surface and a seated-passenger-side lateral surface, specificallyan exposed portion 62 a exposed through the movable member 34. Theexposed portion 62 a protrudes toward a front side and a seatedpassenger side (a lateral side) with respect to a body portion of thelight guide body 62.

In the above-described configuration, the light guide body 62 isattached to a back surface of the movable member 34 on a seat back sidewhen the movable member 34 is at the housing position illustrated inFIG. 20A. Thus, the light guide body 62 can be protected when themovable member 34 is at the housing position, and an increase in thesize of the belt assist device 30 can be suppressed.

Moreover, in the above-described configuration, the light guide body 62is, as illustrated in FIGS. 19 and 20, disposed on theseated-passenger-side lateral surface of the movable member 34 in theright-to-left direction and on a protruding tip end side of the movablemember 34. Thus, light emission from the light guide body 62 is morenoticeable by the seated passenger, and a light emission area of thelight guide body 62 can be easily ensured.

Further, in the above-described configuration, the light guide body 62is attached so that the light guide body 62 and the movable member 34can be together housed in the recessed housing portion 21, and isdisposed at a front position of the recessed housing portion 21 when themovable member 34 is at the protruding position. Thus, the light guidebody 62 can be protected from scratching, contamination, etc. while thelight emission area of the light guide body 62 can be easily ensured.

In addition, in the above-described configuration, the light guide body62 is supported in the state in which the light guide body 62 issurrounded by the front wall portion, the seated-passenger-side lateralwall portion, the reinforcement rib 34 a, and the support rib 34 e ofthe movable member 34. Thus, ease of assembly of the light guide body 62is improved.

Moreover, in the above-described configuration, it is configured suchthat reflection prisms are formed respectively on theseated-passenger-side lateral surface and the opposite lateral surfaceof the light guide body 62 in the right-to-left direction and that aslightly embossed portion is formed (e.g., frosted) on theseated-passenger-side lateral surface by, e.g., sandblasting. Thus,light can be preferentially surface-emitted from theseated-passenger-side lateral surface of the light guide body 62. Inaddition, surface emission can be made with light being diffused as infrosted glass. Thus, designability is improved.

Further, in the above-described configuration, the light guide body 62and the movable member 34 show color tones or color patterns with acontrast between the light guide body 62 and the movable member 34.Specifically, the light guide body 62 is mixed with a pigment, acolorant, or a fluorescence agent such that at least the exposed portion62 a has a “warm” resin color such as amber or red. On the other hand,the movable member 34 is formed to have a “cold” resin color such aswhite or blue. Thus, e.g., when control is made not to emit light fromthe light guide body 62 during the day and to emit light from the lightguide body 62 during the night, the seated passenger can easilyrecognize the presence of the movable member 34 by the warm color duringthe day, and can easily recognize the presence of the movable member 34by light emission during the night. In particular, since the light guidebody 62 and the movable member 34 show the color tones or the colorpatterns with the contrast, even when the seated passenger is an agedperson with reduced vision, such a seated passenger can easily recognizethe presence of the movable member 34. Note that a cover material of avehicle rear seat typically has a color of black or a similar color, andtherefore, the contrast between the light guide body 62 and the movablemember 34 become more visually prominent.

Next, a control section of the belt assist device 30 is described withreference to FIGS. 21 and 22. As illustrated in FIG. 21, the belt assistdevice 30 includes an ECU 40, the drive circuits 41, 46 configured tosupply drive power to the motor 31 and the light emission device 60, andthe vehicle power source 42 connected to the motor 31 via the drivecircuit 41 and connected to the light emission device 60 via the drivecircuit 46.

The ECU 40 is configured to control the drive power supplied from thedrive circuit 41 to the motor 31 to control ON or OFF of current of anelectromagnetic clutch (not shown), thereby controlling lifting/loweringof the motor 31, i.e., rotation of the movable member 34. Moreover, theECU 40 is configured to control the drive power supplied from the drivecircuit 46 to the light emission device 60 to control ON or OFF ofcurrent of the electromagnetic clutch (not shown), thereby controllingON/OFF of the light emission device 60.

The ECU 40 is provided at a seat cushion 1, and is connected to aseating sensor 43, a door sensor 44, a buckle sensor 45. In theabove-described configuration, the ECU 40 controls operation of themotor 31, i.e., operation of the movable member 34, and light emissionfrom the light emission device 60 based on a signal input from eachsensor.

Processing of a flowchart of FIG. 22 is repeatedly executed during aperiod for which, e.g., control is made by the ECU 40 to turn on anignition switch of a vehicle. In a normal state, the belt assist device30 is at the housing position illustrated in FIG. 20A, and is integrallyhoused without protruding beyond an outer surface of the seat back 2.The seatbelt 10 substantially closely contacts the outer surface of theseat back 2.

When the processing of the flowchart of FIG. 22 begins, it is, at a stepST11, first determined whether or not the seating sensor 43 is ON. Whenthe seating sensor 43 is not ON (step ST11: No), nobody is seated on thevehicle seat S. Thus, an OFF signal is transmitted to the drive circuit41, and supply of the drive power from the drive circuit 41 to the motor31 is stopped to terminate the processing.

When the seating sensor 43 is ON (step ST11: Yes), it is, at a stepST12, further determined whether or not the door sensor 44 is ON. Whenthe door sensor 44 is not ON (step ST12: No), the passenger has beenseated on the vehicle seat S, but a vehicle door is not closed. Thus,the step ST12 is repeated until the vehicle door is closed.

When the door sensor 44 is ON (step ST12: Yes), the passenger has beenseated on the vehicle seat S, and the vehicle door has been closed.However, it is determined that the seatbelt 10 has not been fastenedyet. Thus, at a step ST13, an ON signal is transmitted to the drivecircuit 41, and the drive power is supplied from the drive circuit 41 tothe motor 31. Accordingly, the motor 31 (a cylinder 31 b) lowers to apredetermined lowered position, and such lowering movement istransmitted to the movable member 34 via the support shaft 31 c. Then,the movable member 34 rotates upward about the rotary shaft 33 to theprotruding position. The movable member 34 rotates upward to protrudeforward, thereby pushing the seatbelt 10 forward and upward.

Next, at a step ST14, an ON signal is transmitted to the drive circuit46, and the drive power is supplied from the drive circuit 46 to thelight emission device 60. Accordingly, the light guide body 62 (theexposed portion 62 a) begins emitting light in response to (inassociation with) lowering of the motor 31. The light guide body 62preferably begins, as the timing of beginning light emission, emittinglight in time with start of movement of the movable member 34.

Next, at a step ST15, it is determined whether or not the buckle sensor45 at a position corresponding to the seating sensor 43 in an ON stateis ON. When the buckle sensor 45 is not ON (step ST15: No), it is takenas the passenger being seated but the seatbelt 10 being not fastenedyet, and the drive power is continuously supplied from the drive circuit41 to the motor 31. Note that when the motor 31 (the cylinder 31 b) hasalready lowered to the lowered position, the motor 31 (the cylinder 31b) is held at the lowered position even when supply of the drive poweris stopped.

The step ST15 is repeated until the buckle sensor 45 is turned on oruntil a predetermined period of time is elapsed after start of loweringof the motor 31 at a step ST16. Accordingly, the motor 31 (the cylinder31 b) is held at the predetermined lowered position, and the movablemember 34 is held at the protruding position. The seatbelt 10 is heldwith the seatbelt 10 being pushed out by the movable member 34. At thispoint, the light guide body 62 continuously emits light while themovable member 34 is at the protruding position. Note that at thispoint, an announcement such as “please fasten the seatbelt,” warningsound, or vibration may be simultaneously emitted.

When the buckle sensor 45 is ON (step ST15: Yes), the seated passengeron the vehicle seat S has fastened the seatbelt 10. Thus, at a stepST17, another ON signal is transmitted to the drive circuit 41, and thedrive power is supplied from the drive circuit 41 to the motor 31.Accordingly, the motor 31 (the cylinder 31 b) lifts to a predeterminedlifted position (a standby position), and such lifting movement istransmitted to the movable member 34 via the support shaft 31 c. Then,the movable member 34 rotates downward from the protruding position tothe housing position. Alternatively, when the predetermined period oftime has been elapsed at the step ST16, the seated passenger has not yetfastened the seatbelt 10, but the processing proceeds to the step ST17.

When the motor 31 (the cylinder 31 b) has lifted to the predeterminedlifted position (the standby position) (step ST18: Yes), an OFF signalis transmitted to the drive circuit 46 at a step ST19. Then, supply ofthe drive power from the drive circuit 46 to the light emission device60 is stopped. This turns off the light emission device 60. Further, ata step ST20, an OFF signal is transmitted to the drive circuit 41, andsupply of the drive power from the drive circuit 41 to the motor 31 isstopped. Accordingly, the motor 31 is held at the lifted position, andthe movable member 34 is held at the housing position. Note that whenthe motor 31 does not lift to the lifted position (step ST18: No), thestep ST18 is repeated. The processing of FIG. 22 ends through the stepsST11 or ST20 described above.

By the above-described processing flow, before the seated passenger onthe vehicle seat S fastens the seatbelt 10, the belt assist device 30can move at least a portion of the seatbelt 10 to a position easilyreached by a seated passenger's hand, and can inform, by light emissionfrom the light emission device 60, the seated passenger of the seatbelt10 being moved. After the seated passenger has fastened the seatbelt 10,the belt assist device 30 is integrally housed in the vehicle seat S,and turns off the light emission device 60. Thus, no obstruction iscaused.

Sixth Embodiment of Belt Assist Device

Next, the sixth embodiment of the belt assist device is described withreference to FIGS. 23 to 25. A belt assist device 130 of the sixthembodiment is attached to an upper portion of a back side portion 120.

The belt assist device 130 generally includes a support 132 fixed, bysnap-fitting, to a substantially inverted T-shaped opening 121 aprovided at a side base 120 a, a rotary shaft 133 pivotally supported inthe support 132, and a movable member 134 attached via the rotary shaft133. Moreover, a plate-shaped light guide body 162 (a light emissiondevice 160) and a plate-shaped cover member 163 covering the movablemember 134 and the light guide body 162 are attached to aseated-passenger-side half of a back surface of the movable member 134in a right-to-left direction.

The belt assist device 130 is a device configured to rotate the movablemember 134 between a housing position at which the movable member 134 ishoused in a housing portion 121 of the back side portion 120 and aprotruding position at which the movable member 134 protrudes forward ofthe back side portion 120 to push out a portion of a seatbelt 10.

The support 132 is a resin body configured to rotatably support themovable member 134, and a pair of support holes 132 c configured topivotally support the rotary shaft 133 are formed respectively at rightand left lateral wall portions of the support 132. Moreover, a pluralityof substantially columnar coupling portions 132 d coupling the right andleft lateral wall portions together are provided at an upper portion ofthe support 132. The rotary shaft 133 extends in the right-to-leftdirection, and is further pivotally supported by shaft holes 134 c ofthe movable member 134 with the rotary shaft 133 being pivotallysupported by the pair of support holes 132 c. Further, the rotary shaft133 is attached to lower portions (lower end portions) of the support132 and the movable member 134.

As illustrated in FIG. 24, the movable member 134 is a member includinga resin plate and configured to push out a portion of the seatbelt 10from behind. The movable member 134 is rotatably provided between thehousing position and the protruding position. A reinforcement rib 134 aillustrated in FIG. 25 is formed to extend backward from a centerportion of the back surface of the movable member 134 in theright-to-left direction. Moreover, the pair of shaft holes 134 cextending in the right-to-left direction are integrally attachedrespectively to right and left end portions of a lower portion of theback surface of the movable member 134. The rotary shaft 133 is insertedinto the pair of shaft holes 134 c across the right-to-left direction.

In the above-described configuration, the movable member 134 is disposedto move to the protruding position of FIG. 23 in such a manner that themovable member 134 rotates downward about the rotary shaft 133 from thehousing position to protrude forward of a seat.

Moreover, in the above-described configuration, when the movable member134 has moved to the protruding position, the reinforcement rib 134 a isdisposed to contact the coupling portions 132 d of the support 132.Thus, the movable member 134 can be positioned at the protrudingposition, and can be stably supported by the support 132.

The light emission device 160 is a device configured to inform theseated passenger, by light emission, that the movable member 134 is atthe protruding position. The light emission device 160 generallyincludes a light source body 161 configured to emit light, and the lightguide body 162 configured to guide the light emitted from the lightsource body 161, as illustrated in FIG. 25. The light guide body 162 isa light guide plate made of polycarbonate resin, and is configured toreceive light into the light guide body 162 via a light receptionsurface close to the light source body 161 and to optionally reflect andguide the received light toward a front surface and aseated-passenger-side lateral surface.

In the above-described configuration, the movable member 134, the lightguide body 162, and the cover member 163 show color tones or colorpatterns with a contrast between adjacent ones of these components.Specifically, the movable member 134 and the cover member 163 are formedto have a “cold” resin color such as white or blue, and the light guidebody 162 is formed to have a “warm” resin color such as amber or red.Thus, the seated passenger can more easily recognize the presence of themovable member 134 by the warm color during the day, and can easilyrecognize the presence of the movable member 134 by light emissionduring the night, for example.

Seventh Embodiment of Belt Assist Device

Next, the seventh embodiment of the belt assist device is described withreference to FIGS. 26 and 27. A belt assist device 430 of the seventhembodiment is attached to an upper portion of a back side portion 420.As illustrated in FIG. 26, the belt assist device 430 generally includesa rotary shaft 433 pivotally supported in a side base 420 a, and amovable member 434 attached via the rotary shaft 433. Moreover, a flatplate-shaped light guide body 462 (a light emission device 460) and alight emission body 466 (a light emission device 465) on a back surface(a bottom surface) of the light guide body 462 are attached to a backsurface (a bottom surface) of the movable member 434 in a substantiallyflat plate shape.

The light emission device 460 is a device configured to inform theseated passenger, by light emission, that the movable member 434 is at aprotruding position. The light emission device 460 generally includes alight source body (not shown) and the light guide body 462 configured toguide the light emitted from the light source body. The light emissiondevice 465 is a device configured to irradiate a seated passenger withlight when the movable member 434 is at the protruding position. Thelight emission device 465 generally includes the light emission body 466having an LED light source unit, and an assembly member 467 for assemblyof the light emission body 466, as illustrated in FIG. 27.

The light emission body 466 generally includes a light source 466 a, asubstrate 466 b to which the light source 466 a is fixed, a dome-shapedlens 466 c configured to converge or diverge light emitted from thelight source 466 a, and a knob 466 d configured to adjust a lightdistribution angle of the lens 466 c.

In the above-described configuration, the rotary shaft 433 is attachedto an upper end portion of the movable member 434, and the lightemission device 465 is attached to a lower end portion of the movablemember 434. Thus, a simple compact configuration is provided, and alight emission area of the light emission device 465 is easily ensured.

Moreover, in the above-described configuration, the light emissiondevice 465 is the device configured to irradiate the seated passengerwith light, and includes the knob 466 d configured to adjust a lightdistribution angle of the light emission body 466. Thus, the lightemission body 466 can illuminate an optional site of the seatedpassenger, and can also serves as, e.g., a reading light in addition tothe function of informing the seated passenger of the presence of themovable member 434. Note that in the case of utilizing the lightemission body 466 as the reading light, the color of light emitted fromthe light emission body 466 is preferably white or a light bulb color.

Eighth Embodiment of Belt Assist Device

Next, the eighth embodiment of the belt assist device is described withreference to FIGS. 28 and 29. A belt assist device 530 of the eighthembodiment is attached to an upper portion of a back side portion 520.As illustrated in FIG. 28, the belt assist device 530 generally includesa rotary shaft 533 pivotally supported in a side base 520 a, and amovable member 534 attached via the rotary shaft 533. Moreover, a flatplate-shaped light guide body 562 (a light emission device 560), a covermember 563 having a substantially recessed shape on a back surface (anupper surface) of the light guide body 562, and a light emission body566 (a light emission device 565) on a seated-passenger-side lateralsurface of the cover member 563 are attached to a back surface (an uppersurface) of the movable member 534 in a substantially flat plate shape.

The light emission device 560 is a device configured to inform theseated passenger, by light emission, that the movable member 534 is at aprotruding position. The light emission device 560 generally includes alight source body (not shown) and the light guide body 562. The lightemission device 565 is a device configured to irradiate a seatedpassenger with light when the movable member 534 is at the protrudingposition. The light emission device 565 generally includes the lightemission body 566 having an LED light source unit, and an assemblymember 567 for assembly of the light emission body 566, as illustratedin FIG. 29.

In the above-described configuration, the light emission device 565 isthe device configured to irradiate the seated passenger with light, andis attached to the seated-passenger-side lateral surface of the covermember 563. Moreover, the light emission device 565 includes a knob 566d configured to adjust a light distribution angle of the light emissionbody 566. Thus, the light emission body 566 can more easily illuminatean optional site of the seated passenger, and can be also effectivelyutilized as, e.g., a reading light in addition to the function ofinforming the presence of the movable member 534.

Ninth Embodiment of Belt Assist Device

Next, the ninth embodiment of the belt assist device is described withreference to FIG. 30. A belt assist device 630 of the ninth embodimentis attached to an upper end portion of a back side portion 620, and isdisposed forward of a belt guide 613. The belt assist device 630 is adevice configured to move up and down a movable member 634 between ahousing position at which the movable member 634 is housed in the backside portion 620 and a protruding position at which the movable member634 protrudes upward of the back side portion 620 to push a portion of aseatbelt 10 upward.

The movable member 634 generally includes a flat plate-shaped beltsupport 634 a configured to support a portion of the seatbelt 10, and apair of slide legs 634 b configured to support the belt support 634 afrom below. A light guide body 662 (a light emission device 660) havinga flat plate shape is attached to a seated-passenger-side end portion ofthe belt support 634 a in a right-to-left direction. The light emissiondevice 660 is a device configured to inform the seated passenger, bylight emission, that the movable member 634 is at the protrudingposition. The light emission device 660 generally includes a lightsource body (not shown) and the light guide body 662.

Other Embodiments

In the above-described embodiment, the light emission device 60 isattached to the movable member 34 of the belt assist device 30 asillustrated in FIG. 19, but the present disclosure is not limited tosuch a configuration. The light emission device 60 may be attached ontothe seat back 2 at the periphery of the belt assist device 30, or may beattached to the inside of the seat back 2. Needless to say, the lightemission device 60 may be attached to the vehicle body.

Moreover, in the above-described embodiment, the light guide body 62 ofthe light emission device 60 is, as an indicator section, controlled tocontinuously emit light while the movable member 34 is at the protrudingposition. However, the light guide body 62 may be controlled to emitlight while blinking. Such a configuration can more easily inform theseated passenger of the position of the movable member 34 by blinkinglight emission of the light guide body 62.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the light guide body 62 isthe light guide plate designed such that polycarbonate resin isinjection-molded and the slightly embossed portion and the reflectionprisms are provided for light emission. However, this is changeablewithout limiting the present disclosure to such a configuration. Forexample, the light guide body 62 may be a light guide plate made ofacrylic resin, or may be a soft side light emission fiber etc., needlessto say. Similarly, the light source body 61 is not limited to the LEDlight source. For example, the light source body 61 may be an organicelectroluminescent (EL) light source, a light bulb, etc. With such aconfiguration, the light guide body and the light source body providingbrightness, a light emission area, a light emission color optimal forthe shape structure of the belt assist device 30 can be selected.

The tenth to thirteenth embodiments of the present disclosure aredescribed below with reference to FIGS. 31 to 42.

Basic Structure of Vehicle Seat

A vehicle seat (hereinafter referred to as a “present seat 5”) of thepresent embodiments is first described with reference to FIG. 31. Thepresent seat S forms a back seat of a vehicle. Note that contents of thepresent disclosure are applicable not only to the back seat, but also toa front seat on a vehicle front side.

Moreover, in a configuration illustrated in FIG. 31, two present seats Sare arranged next to each other to sandwich a movable arm rest S4 and ahousing box S5 of the arm rest S4. Note that the two right and leftpresent seats S are bilaterally symmetrical, but have substantiallysimilar configurations. Thus, only the structure of the present seat Spositioned on the left side (the left side as viewed in FIG. 31) isdescribed below.

As illustrated in FIG. 31, the present seat S includes a seat back S1 onwhich the upper body of a seated passenger on the seat leans, a seatcushion S2 on which the hip of the seated passenger is placed, and ahead rest S3 configured to support the head of the seated passenger. Thepresent disclosure is generally characterized by the seat back S1, andtherefore, the seat back S1 is generally described below.

As illustrated in FIG. 31, the seat back S1 includes a support portionS11 configured to support the back of the seated passenger from behind,and a lateral portion S12 positioned lateral to the support portion S11(precisely, a side close to a vehicle door). The support portion S11 isconfigured such that a pad material (not shown) placed on a seat backframe (not shown) is covered with a cover material. Moreover, the headrest S3 is attached to the center of an upper end surface of the supportportion S11 via a head rest pillar.

The lateral portion S12 is positioned at the side of the seatedpassenger on the present seat S, and is configured such that a resinplate 75 illustrated in FIG. 32 is covered with a cover material 76, forexample. Moreover, the lateral portion S12 is disposed such that a frontsurface of the lateral portion S12 is inclined with respect to a frontsurface of the support portion S11. Further, in the present embodiment,an upper end of the lateral portion S12 is at the same position as thatof an upper end of the support portion S11 in an upper-to-lowerdirection, and a lower end of the lateral portion S12 is at thesubstantially same position as that of a lower end portion of thesupport portion S11 in the upper-to-lower direction. A pullout port 73is provided at an upper back position of the upper end of the lateralportion S12. A webbing 71 of a seatbelt is pulled out of the pulloutport 73.

The webbing 71 is equivalent to a belt portion (a band-shaped portion)of the seatbelt. When the seatbelt is at a standby position in anunlocked state, the webbing 71 is disposed at a position illustrated inFIG. 31. The unlocked state described herein means a state in which theposture of the seated passenger is not restrained and a state in which atongue (a lock metal fitting) 71 a attached to a predetermined portionof the webbing 71 is not fixed to a buckle 72 disposed at the side ofthe seat. Moreover, the standby state means the position of the seatbeltbefore the seatbelt is fastened (e.g., when the passenger boards thevehicle).

Moreover, when the seatbelt is at the standby position in the unlockedstate, the webbing 71 is in such a posture that the webbing 71 isstretched in the upper-to-lower direction by a retractor (not shown) andthat the webbing 71 extends longitudinally across the lateral portionS12 as illustrated in FIG. 31. In other words, the front surface of thelateral portion S12 of the seat back S1 includes a region (hereinafterreferred to as an “opposing region”) facing the webbing 71 from theupper end to the lower end of the lateral portion S12. As illustrated inFIG. 31, the opposing region is a band-shaped region positioned at acenter portion of the lateral portion S12 in a width direction. When theseatbelt is at the standby position in the unlocked state, the opposingregion faces the webbing 71 from an upper end to a lower end of such aregion.

On the other hand, when the seatbelt is fastened, the webbing 71 in theabove-described posture is grasped and pulled forward by the seatedpassenger, and is bridged from the shoulder (the right shoulder) to theleft side of the seated passenger. In such a state, when the tongue 71 ais attached to the buckle 72, the webbing 71 is locked, and the postureof the seated passenger is restrained by the webbing 71.

Note that when the seatbelt is at the standby position in the unlockedstate, the webbing 71 faces a predetermined region of the front surfaceof the lateral portion S12 in the present embodiments, but the presentdisclosure is not limited to such a configuration. When the seatbelt isat the standby position in the unlocked state, the webbing 71 may face apredetermined region of the front surface of the support portion S11.

Tenth Embodiment

Next, the tenth embodiment is described with reference to FIGS. 31 to35. In the tenth embodiment, a space formation portion 80 is provided inan opposing region formed at a front surface of a lateral portion S12 ofa seat back S1. The space formation portion 80 is provided for forming aspace between the opposing region and a webbing 71 as illustrated inFIG. 34 when a seatbelt is at a standby position in an unlocked state.In particular, as illustrated in FIG. 31, the space formation portion 80is provided across the substantially entirety of the opposing region inan upper-to-lower direction.

Since the space formation portion 80 forms the space between theopposing region and the webbing 71, a seated passenger easily grasps thewebbing 71. Specifically, since the above-described space is formed, aspace is ensured, into which the seated passenger inserts one's fingerbetween the opposing region and the webbing 71 to grasp the webbing 71.

The space formation portion 80 is provided in the opposing region asdescribed above, and is formed by a recessed portion recessed withrespect to the periphery of a portion provided with the space formationportion 80. In order to provide such a recessed portion in the opposingregion, a decorative component illustrated in FIGS. 32 and 33 is used.The decorative component (i.e., the space formation portion 80) forformation of the recessed portion includes two components, andspecifically includes an inner portion 81 and an outer portion 82. Thematerials of the inner portion 81 and the outer portion 82 are notparticularly limited, but a resin molded article or a metal member is apreferable material, for example.

The inner portion 81 includes, as a body, a quadrangular frame body 81a, and the outer portion 82 is housed in a housing space 81 c formed inthe frame body 81 a. Moreover, each portion of the frame body 81 a hasan L-shaped cross sectional shape. Tongue-shaped protrusions 81 b extendoutward respectively from corner and center portions of the frame body81 a, as illustrated in FIG. 33. These tongue-shaped protrusions 81 bare attached to the opposing region of the lateral portion S12 byfasteners such as bolts or screws. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG.33, a rectangular hole 74 corresponding to the outer shape of the framebody 81 a is formed in the opposing region. The frame body 81 a isfitted into the rectangular hole 74 while the protrusions 81 b arefastened to a portion of the lateral portion S12 at the periphery of therectangular hole 74.

The outer portion 82 has a half cylindrical curved portion 82 a and alateral end portion attached to each lateral end of the curved portion82 a and having a substantially L-shaped cross section. The curvedportion 82 a is a portion forming a recessed portion. Specifically, whenthe outer portion 82 is assembled with the inner portion 81, the curvedportion 82 a is fitted into the inside of the frame body 81 a of theinner portion 81, i.e., the housing space 81 c, in the state in which asurface on a recessed side is positioned on a front side. Note that forthe purpose of improving decorativeness of the outer portion 82, a covermaterial similar to a cover material 76 used as the material of thelateral portion S12 may be attached to the surface of the curved portion82 a on the recessed side.

Of the L-shaped lateral end portion, a portion forming one side is aprotruding portion 82 b protruding outward from each end of the curvedportion 82 a. The protruding portion 82 b is screwed to the frame body81 a of the inner portion 81 when the outer portion 82 is assembled withthe inner portion 81. Of the L-shaped lateral end portion, a portionforming the other side is a perpendicular portion 82 c extending in adirection perpendicular to the protruding portion 82 b. When the outerportion 82 is assembled with the inner portion 81, the perpendicularportion 82 c is inserted into the housing space 81 c formed in the framebody 81 a. Subsequently, the perpendicular portion 82 c engages, at atip end portion in an extension direction thereof, with the frame body81 a as illustrated in FIG. 32. Since the perpendicular portion 82 cengages with the frame body 81 a as described above, a favorableassembly state of the outer portion 82 and the inner portion 81 is held.

The decorative component configured such that the outer portion 82 isassembled with the inner portion 81 is fixed to the lateral portion S12in the state in which the decorative component is fitted into therectangular hole 74 formed at the lateral portion S12, therebyfunctioning as the space formation portion 80. More specifically, in avehicle equipped with a present seat S, the above-described decorativecomponent is disposed in the opposing region such that an opening of theouter portion 82 assembled with the inner portion 81 faces the frontsurface of the lateral portion S12. On the other hand, as illustrated inFIG. 31, when the seatbelt is at the standby position in the unlockedstate, the webbing 71 is at a front position of the above-describedopening. As a result, as illustrated in FIG. 34, when the seatbelt is atthe standby position in the unlocked state, the space of the recessedportion formed by the outer portion 82 is formed between the webbing 71and the front surface (precisely, the opposing region) of the lateralportion S12.

In the present embodiment, the length of the above-described recessedportion in a horizontal width direction is longer than the width of thewebbing 71 as illustrated in FIG. 32. Thus, when the seatbelt is at thestandby position in the unlocked state, one end and the other end of thewebbing 71 in the width direction are positioned between one end and theother end of the recessed portion in the horizontal width direction. Thehorizontal width of the recessed portion described herein is the openingwidth of the recessed portion, and the horizontal width direction is adirection along the width direction of the present seat S.

Simply speaking, each end of the recessed portion in the horizontalwidth direction is positioned outside a corresponding one of the ends ofthe webbing 71 in the width direction. Thus, the size (particularly, thelength in the horizontal width direction) of the recessed portion islarge, but the finger can be inserted into the space of the recessedportion from each end of the webbing 71 in the width direction. Thisallows the seated passenger to more easily grasp the webbing 71.

Note that in the above-described embodiment, each end of the recessedportion in the horizontal width direction is positioned outside acorresponding one of the ends of the webbing 71 in the width direction.However, the present disclosure is not limited to such a configuration.Only one of the ends of the recessed portion in the horizontal widthdirection may be positioned outside a corresponding one of the ends ofthe webbing 71 in the width direction. In other words, when the seatbeltis at the standby position in the unlocked state, one end (the left end)of the recessed portion in the horizontal width direction may bepositioned farther from one end (the right end) of the webbing 71 in thewidth direction than from the other end (the left end) of the webbing 71in the width direction, and the other end of the recessed portion in thehorizontal width direction may be positioned between one end and theother end of the webbing 71 in the width direction. In such a positionalrelationship, the recessed portion is provided at a position close toone end side of the webbing 71 in the width direction. According to sucha configuration, e.g., when the finger is inserted into the space of therecessed portion, the finger is inserted only from one end side (theleft side) of the webbing 71 in the width direction. Although there arecertain limitations on a direction in which the finger is inserted asdescribed above, the size of the recessed portion can be more reducedaccording to the above-described configuration.

When compactness of the size of the recessed portion is more emphasizedthan easy grasping of the webbing 71, each end of the recessed portionin the horizontal width direction may be positioned inside both ends ofthe webbing 71 in the width direction.

Of the dimensions of the recessed portion, a length in a direction(i.e., the upper-to-lower direction) intersecting the horizontal widthdirection of the recessed portion is, in the present embodiment, longerthan a length in the horizontal width direction as illustrated in FIGS.31 and 33. Simply speaking, the recessed portion forming the spaceformation portion 80 is an elongated recessed portion in the tenthembodiment. In this case, the space of the recessed portion is alsoformed elongated. With such an elongated recessed portion, the seatedpassenger can easily grasp the webbing 71 regardless of the body type ofthe seated passenger.

Moreover, in the present embodiment, the recessed portion forming thespace formation portion 80 has a cross-sectional shape such that thewebbing 71 can be more easily grasped. Specifically, the recessedportion is provided with an opening 80 a facing the webbing 71 and abottom surface 80 b positioned opposite to the opening. In the tenthembodiment, the area of the opening of the recessed portion is largerthan that of the bottom surface of the recessed portion. Morespecifically, the recessed portion of the present embodiment expandsfrom the bottom surface toward an opening end as illustrated in FIG. 34.As long as the recessed portion is in a shape such that the opening islarger than the bottom surface as described above, the finger can bemore easily inserted into the recessed portion. Thus, the webbing 71 canbe much more easily grasped.

The degree of expansion of the recessed portion from the bottom surface80 b toward the opening 80 a is lower in the upper-to-lower directionthan in the horizontal width direction. In other words, a differencebetween the length of the opening 80 a and the length of the bottomsurface 80 b is smaller in the upper-to-lower direction than in thehorizontal width direction. With such a size relationship, the size ofthe recessed portion can be further reduced.

Further, in the present embodiment, the component forming the spaceformation portion 80 and a component forming a peripheral portion of thespace formation portion 80 are separate components as illustrated inFIG. 33. Specifically, the decorative component forms the spaceformation portion 80, and is incorporated into the present seat S insuch a manner that the decorative component is fitted into therectangular hole 74 formed in the opposing region of the lateral portionS12 of the seat back S1. The decorative component incorporated into thepresent seat S is assembled and integrated with a portion of the lateralportion S12 at the periphery of the decorative component. As describedabove, in the present embodiment, the component forming the spaceformation portion 80 is separated from the peripheral component, andtherefore, the degree of freedom in molding of the space formationportion 80 is increased. Thus, in the present embodiment, the spaceformation portion 80 molded into a desired shape can be more easilyobtained.

In the configuration in which the component forming the space formationportion 80 and the peripheral component are separated from each other, aseat manufacturing cost is increased by such a configuration. On theother hand, when the component forming the space formation portion 80and the peripheral component are integrally molded, the cost can bereduced to a lower cost. Note that examples of such a method include amethod in which the above-described recessed portion is integrally(simultaneously) molded with the lateral portion S12 (precisely, a resinplate 75 as a base portion of the lateral portion S12) when the lateralportion S12 is molded by vacuum molding.

In the present embodiment, the recessed portion forms the spaceformation portion 80, and particularly, the recessed portion formed bythe half cylindrical component (specifically, the outer portion 82 ofthe decorative component) forms the space formation portion 80. Theshape of the recessed portion described herein is not particularlylimited. For example, a bowl-shaped component may form the recessedportion as illustrated in FIG. 35. The component illustrated in FIG. 35is equivalent to a variation of the outer portion 82 of the decorativecomponent forming the recessed portion, and is hereinafter referred toas an “outer portion 82X” of the variation. The outer portion 82X of thevariation has, as illustrated in FIG. 35, a bowl-shaped portion 82Xafunctioning as a portion forming the recessed portion, and a flangeportion 82Xb as a peripheral edge portion of an opening end of thebowl-shaped portion 82Xa. The bowl-shaped portion 82Xa is equivalent tothe curved portion 82 a of the outer portion 82 described above, and theflange portion 82Xb is equivalent to the protruding portion 82 b of theouter portion 82. Using the outer portion 82X of the variation, thebowl-shaped recessed portion is formed.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the recessed portion forms thespace formation portion 80 as described above, but the presentdisclosure is not limited to such a configuration. That is, as long asthe space is formed between the opposing region and the webbing 71 whenthe seatbelt is at the standby position in the unlocked state, the spaceformation portion 80 is not limited to the recessed portion, and araised portion may form the space formation portion 80.

Eleventh Embodiment

Next, the eleventh embodiment is described with reference to FIGS. 36 to38. In the eleventh embodiment, an airbag module M is built in a lateralportion S12 of a seat back S1. The airbag module M is a module of anairbag (precisely, a side airbag) configured to expand when a lateralimpact load acts on a vehicle and equipment relating to the airbag. Notethat in the present embodiment, the airbag module M (indicated by adashed line in FIG. 36) is disposed on a back side of an opposing regionof the lateral portion S12 as illustrated in FIG. 36.

In the present embodiment, each space formation portion 180 is, in theopposing region, provided to deviate from a portion where the airbagmodule M is disposed behind. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 36,the space formation portions 180 are provided respectively at upper andlower positions of the portion where the airbag module M is disposedbehind. Each space formation portion 180 is different from the spaceformation portion 80 of the tenth embodiment in size (particularly, alength in an upper-to-lower direction), but has functions and a basicstructure common to those of the space formation portion 80 of the tenthembodiment. As described above, in the present embodiment, since eachspace formation portion 180 is, in the opposing region, provided todeviate from the portion where the airbag module M is disposed behind,influence of the space formation portions 180 on actuation of the airbagmodule M can be reduced.

Note that in a case illustrated in FIG. 36, the space formation portions180 are, in the opposing region, provided respectively at the upper andlower positions deviating from the portion behind which the airbagmodule M is disposed. Note that the present disclosure is not limited tosuch a configuration, and the space formation portion 180 may beprovided only at the lower position of the portion where the airbagmodule M is disposed behind as illustrated in FIG. 37.

Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG. 38, the space formation portions180 may be arranged respectively at positions different from thearrangement position of the airbag module M in a right-to-leftdirection. In this case, the space formation portions 180 may bearranged to avoid a portion where a webbing Ma extending from the airbagmodule M is connected to the lateral portion S12, i.e., a portion as abreak line TL in airbag expansion. Note that in FIG. 38, the spaceformation portions 180 are provided respectively on both sides of thebreak line TL for the sake of illustration, but the space formationportion 180 may be actually provided on one side. That is, when aseatbelt is at a standby position in an unlocked state, if the webbing71 is positioned on the right side of the break line TL, the spaceformation portion 180 is preferably provided on the right side of thebreak line TL. If the webbing 71 is positioned on the left side of thebreak line TL, the space formation portion 180 is preferably provided onthe left side of the break line TL.

Although not shown in the figure, it may be configured such that thespace formation portion 180 is, in the opposing region, provided at theportion behind which the airbag module M is disposed. With such aconfiguration, a space between the webbing 71 and the airbag module M iseffectively utilized so that the space formation portion 180 can beefficiently disposed.

Twelfth Embodiment

Next, the twelfth embodiment is described with reference to FIGS. 39 and40. In the twelfth embodiment, a belt reacher 90 as a pushout mechanismis attached to an upper portion of an opposing region as illustrated inFIG. 39. As illustrated in FIG. 40, the belt reacher 90 includes apushout body 91 formed in a substantially triangular shape as viewedfrom the side. The pushout body 91 is housed in a housing space providedat a lateral portion S12 of a seat back S1. Moreover, the pushout body91 is supported by a rotary shaft 91 a provided in the housing space,thereby freely rotating back and forth and up and down. The pushout body91 receives force from an actuator (not shown) to rotate about therotary shaft 91 a.

At one end position (a position indicated by a dashed line in FIG. 40)of a rotation area of the pushout body 91, the pushout body 91 iscompletely housed in the housing space provided at the lateral portionS12. In such a state, the pushout body 91 does not protrude forward of afront surface of the lateral portion S12, and an opening of the housingspace is substantially closed by a top surface of the pushout body 91 asillustrated in FIG. 40. On the other hand, at the other end position (aposition indicated by a solid line in FIG. 40) of the rotation area ofthe pushout body 91, a top corner portion of the pushout body 91somewhat protrudes forward of the front surface of the lateral portionS12. As a result, the top corner portion of the pushout body 91 comesinto contact with a back surface of a portion of a webbing 71 of aseatbelt positioned right in front of the top corner portion of thepushout body 91, thereby pushing such a portion forward.

As described above, in the present embodiment, since the belt reacher 90is attached, the webbing 71 can be, in fastening of the seatbelt, moreeasily grasped by functions of the belt reacher 90. Further, a spaceformation portion 280 is formed to deviate, in an upper-to-lowerdirection, from a portion attached to the belt reacher 90 in theopposing region. More specifically, the space formation portion 280 is,in the opposing region, provided at a lower position of the portionattached to the belt reacher 90 as illustrated in FIG. 39. Note that thespace formation portion 280 of the present embodiment is different fromthe space formation portion 80 of the tenth embodiment in size(particularly, a length in the upper-to-lower direction), but hasfunctions and a basic structure common to those of the space formationportion 80 of the tenth embodiment.

As described above, in the present embodiment, it is configured suchthat the belt reacher 90 and the space formation portion 280 are used incombination. With such a configuration, while the belt reacher 90 can beeffectively utilized, the space formation portion 280 can be also usedto much more easily grasp the webbing 71 of the seatbelt. Moreover, inthe present embodiment, the belt reacher 90 and the space formationportion 280 can be utilized in a complementary manner. For example, whenthe pushout amount (the rotation amount) of the pushout body 91 isdecreased, the space formation portion 280 covers a function lost bysuch a decrease. As a result, the size of the belt reacher 90 can bereduced while easy grasping of the webbing 71 can be ensured. Moreover,according to the above-described configuration, the space formationportion 280 can be efficiently disposed by effective utilization of aspace at a lower position of the belt reacher 90.

Note that in the present embodiment, the space formation portion 280 is,in the opposing region, provided at the lower position of the portionattached to the belt reacher 90, but the present disclosure is notlimited to such a configuration. The space formation portion 280 may beprovided at an upper position of the portion attached to the beltreacher 90. Alternatively, the space formation portions 280 may beprovided respectively at the upper and lower positions of the portionattached to the belt reacher 90.

Thirteenth Embodiment

Next, the thirteenth embodiment is described with reference to FIGS. 41and 42. In the thirteenth embodiment, a space formation portion 380 isalso provided in an opposing region of a front surface of a lateralportion S12 of a seat back S1 as in other embodiments. In the thirteenthembodiment, a component forming the space formation portion 380 is amovable member configured to move to switch an exposed surface. Theexposed surface described herein is a surface positioned at the frontsurface of the lateral portion S12 and facing a webbing 71 when aseatbelt is at a standby position in an unlocked state, i.e., a surfacepositioned in the opposing region.

The movable member forming the space formation portion 380 is a rotarymember 381 rotatably supported by a rotary shaft 381 a. An axialdirection of the rotary shaft 381 a is along a width direction of apresent seat S. Moreover, the rotary member 381 has two surfacesarranged on opposite sides with the rotary shaft 381 a being sandwichedtherebetween. A first surface 382 as one surface is equivalent to arecessed portion formation surface, and is a curved surface providedwith an arc-shaped recess as illustrated in FIGS. 41 and 42. Morespecifically, the first surface 382 is curved such that a center portionof the first surface 382 in a rotation direction of the rotary member381 is depressed. Note that both end portions of the first surface 382in the rotation direction are somewhat raised with respect to the centerportion.

Of the two surfaces of the rotary member 381, a second surface 383 asthe other surface is a surface not provided with a recess and formedalong the front surface shape of the seat back S1. Moreover, the secondsurface 383 is formed by a cover material 384 attached to the rotarymember 381. Such a cover material 384 is similar to a cover material 76used for the lateral portion S12.

Further, the rotary member 381 is housed in a half cylindrical cavity 77formed at the lateral portion S12. The rotary member 381 rotates in thecavity 77 such that the surface exposed in the opposing region isswitched between the first surface 382 and the second surface 383. Thatis, the rotary member 381 reciprocates, by rotation about the rotaryshaft 381 a, between a position at which only the second surface 383 ofthe first and second surfaces 382, 383 is exposed in the opposing regionand a position at which the first surface 382 of the first and secondsurfaces 382, 383 is exposed in the opposing region. Note that theposition at which only the second surface 383 of the first and secondsurfaces 382, 383 is exposed in the opposing region is equivalent to aposition at which the recessed portion formation surface deviates fromthe opposing region. Specifically, such a position is a positionillustrated in FIG. 41, and is hereinafter referred to as a “normalposition.” On the other hand, the position at which the first surface382 of the first and second surfaces 382, 383 is exposed in the opposingregion is equivalent to a position at which the recessed portionformation surface is exposed in the opposing region. Specifically, sucha position is a position illustrated in FIG. 42, and is hereinafterreferred to as a “recessed portion formation position.”

The states of the rotary member 381 at the normal position and therecessed portion formation position are now described. In the state atthe normal position, the second surface 383 is exposed through anopening of the cavity 77. Moreover, when the rotary member 381 is at thenormal position, the second surface 383 is at a position such that thesecond surface 383 is continuous to a portion of the front surface ofthe lateral portion S12 at the periphery of the second surface 383 asillustrated in FIG. 41. Further, the second surface 383 is formed by thesame cover material 384 as the cover material 76 used for the lateralportion S12. Thus, in the state of the rotary member 381 at the normalposition, outer appearance is provided as if the rotary member 381 andthe peripheral portion thereof are integrated together. Since the rotarymember 381 is, for example, placed at the normal position as describedabove when the seatbelt is not fastened, the rotary member 381(precisely, a recessed portion formed by the first surface 382) ishidden, and therefore, designability of the seat can be ensured.

When the rotary member 381 rotates from the normal position to reach therecessed portion formation position, the first surface 382 is exposedthrough the opening of the cavity 77 as illustrated in FIG. 42. When thefirst surface 382 is exposed, a space is formed between the opposingregion of the front surface of the lateral portion S12 and the webbing71 as illustrated in FIG. 42. That is, the recessed portion formationposition is a position that the rotary member 381 at the normal positionrotates towards when a seated passenger fastens the seatbelt. Therecessed portion formed by the rotary member 381 at the recessed portionformation position is utilized so that the webbing 71 can be more easilygrasped.

In the state of the rotary member 381 at the recessed portion formationposition, both end portions (equivalent to portions surrounding therecessed portion) of the first surface 382 in the rotation directionsomewhat protrude outward of the cavity 77 as illustrated in FIG. 42.These protruding end portions (particularly, an upper end portion inFIG. 42) of the first surface 382 in the rotation direction come intocontact with a back surface of the webbing 71 positioned right in frontof the end portions of the first surface 382, thereby pushing thewebbing 71 forward. As described above, in the present embodiment, therotary member 381 has functions similar to those of the belt reacher 90of the twelfth embodiment, and is used as both of the space formationportion 380 and the belt reacher.

When the rotary member 381 rotates from the normal position to reach therecessed portion formation position, a corner portion (specifically, acorner portion positioned on an upper end side of the second surface 383and surrounded by a dashed line in FIG. 42) of the rotary member 381 islocked in contact with an inner wall surface of the cavity 77 of thelateral portion S12 as illustrated in FIG. 42. This can restrict furtherrotation of the rotary member 381 in the same rotation direction, andcan hold the rotary member 381 at the recessed portion formationposition. As described above, the corner portion of the rotary member381 functions as a positioning portion 385 configured to hold theposition of the rotary member 381. With fulfillment of the function asthe positioning portion 385, the rotary member 381 is held at theabove-described recessed portion formation position, and is utilized asthe space formation portion 380 and the belt reacher.

Note that in the present embodiment, the component forming the spaceformation portion 380 is the rotary member 381, and it is, by rotationof the rotary member 381, switchable between the state in which therecessed portion is exposed and the state in which the recessed portionis hidden. With such a configuration, the above-described two states canbe more easily switched. Note that the present disclosure is not limitedto such a configuration, and the component forming the space formationportion may be other movable members than the rotary member 381 toswitch the above-described two states by, e.g., slide movement.

The recessed portion formed at the first surface 382 of the rotarymember 381 may be used for other purposes than the purpose of formingthe space with respect to the webbing 71 of the seatbelt, andspecifically, may be used for providing a space for housing of a smallproduct. Thus, the rotary member 381 as the space formation portion isalso used for forming the space for housing of the small product, andtherefore, the rotary member 381 can be more effectively utilized.

In the above-described embodiment, the vehicle seat used for anautomobile has been described as a specific example, but the presentdisclosure is not limited to such an example. The present disclosure canbe utilized not only as vehicle seats for trains, buses, etc., but alsoas vehicle seats for airplanes, ships, etc.

In the above-described embodiment, the vehicle seat of the presentdisclosure has been generally described. Note that the above-describedembodiments have been set forth merely as examples for the sake of easyunderstanding of the present disclosure, and are not intended to limitthe present disclosure. Changes and modifications can be made to thepresent disclosure without departing from the gist of the presentdisclosure. Needless to say, the present disclosure includes equivalentsthereof.

TABLE OF REFERENCE NUMERALS S: vehicle seat (present seat) 1: seatcushion 2: seat back 3: head rest 10: seatbelt 10a: lower end side 10b:upper end side 11: tongue plate 12: buckle 13, 413: belt guide 13a:guide hole 20, 120, 220, 420, 520, 620: back side portion 20a, 120a,220a, 420a, 520a: side base 20b: cushion pad 20c: cover material 20ca:opening hole 21, 121, 221, 321, 421, 521: recessed housing portion(housing portion) 21a, 22a, 23a, 121a: opening 21b, 22b, 23b, 321b:housing plate 321c: back attachment portion 321d: body attachmentportion 321e: snap-fit hole 321f: hook claw portion 321g: protrudingholding portion 22: recessed airbag housing portion 23: belt facingrecessed portion 30, 130, 230, 330, 430, 530, 630: belt assist device31, 331: motor 31a: motor body 31b: cylinder 331b: drive shaft 31c,331c: support shaft (support shaft portion) 331d: wheel gear 331e: wormgear 331f: support 331g: insertion hole 32, 132, 332: support plate(support) 32a: attachment target portion 32b: opening 32c, 132c: supporthole 132d: coupling portion 332e: protruding raised portion 33, 133,233, 333, 433, 533: rotary shaft 34, 134, 234, 334, 434, 534, 634:rotary member (movable member) 34a, 134a, 334a: reinforcement rib 34b:support hole 34c, 34d, 134c: shaft hole 334d: cutout portion 334e:position regulation portion 34e: support rib 34f: slit 634a: beltsupport 634b: slide leg 35: auxiliary spring 336: front cover 337: backcover 338: lateral cover 40: ECU 41: drive circuit 42: vehicle powersource 43: seating sensor 44: door sensor 45: buckle sensor 46: drivecircuit 50: airbag module 60, 160, 460, 560, 660: light emission device61, 161: light source body 62, 162, 462, 562, 662: light guide body 62a:exposed portion 163, 563: cover member 465, 565: light emission device466, 566: light emission body 466a: light source 466b: substrate 466c:lens 466d, 566d: knob 467, 567: assembly member 71: webbing (beltportion) 71a: tongue 72: buckle 73: pullout port 74: rectangular hole75: resin plate 76: cover material 77: cavity 80, 180, 280, 380: spaceformation portion 80a: opening of recessed portion 80b: bottom surfaceof recessed portion 81: inner portion 81a: frame body 81b: tongue-shapedprotrusion 81c: housing space 82: outer portion 82a: curved portion 82b:protruding portion 82c: perpendicular portion 82X: outer portion of thevariation 82Xa: bowl-shaped portion 82Xb: flange portion 381: rotarymember 381a: rotary shaft 382: first surface 383: second surface 384:cover material 385: positioning portion 90: belt reacher, belt pusher91: pushout body 91a: rotary shaft M: airbag module Ma: webbing S1: seatback S11: support portion S12: lateral portion S2: seat cushion S3: headrest S4: arm rest S5: housing box TL: break line

What is claimed is:
 1. A vehicle seat comprising: a support portionconfigured to support a back of a seated passenger from behind the backof the seated passenger; a lateral portion positioned at a side of thesupport portion; and a seatbelt that includes a belt portion; wherein:at least one of a front surface of the support portion and a frontsurface of the lateral portion has an opposing region that opposes thebelt portion of the seatbelt when the seatbelt is at a standby positionin an unlocked state; at least a portion of the opposing region isprovided with a space formation portion formed by a recessed portion ora raised portion; and when the seatbelt is at the standby position inthe unlocked state, the space formation portion forms a space betweenthe opposing region and the belt portion.
 2. The vehicle seat accordingto claim 1, wherein: the space formation portion is formed by therecessed portion; and when the seatbelt is at the standby position inthe unlocked state, one end of the recessed portion in a horizontalwidth direction is positioned farther from one end of the belt portionin a width direction of the belt portion than from another end of thebelt portion in the width direction, and another end of the recessedportion in the horizontal width direction is positioned between the oneend of the belt portion and the another end of the belt portion in thewidth direction.
 3. The vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein: thespace formation portion is formed by the recessed portion; and when theseatbelt is at the standby position in the unlocked state, one end andanother end of the belt portion in a width direction of the belt portionare positioned between one end and another end of the recessed portionin a horizontal width direction.
 4. The vehicle seat according to claim1, wherein: the space formation portion is formed by the recessedportion; a horizontal width direction of the recessed portion is along awidth direction of the vehicle seat; and a length in a directionintersecting the horizontal width direction of the recessed portion islonger than a length in the horizontal width direction of the recessedportion.
 5. The vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein: the spaceformation portion is formed by the recessed portion; the recessedportion comprises i) an opening that faces the belt portion, and ii) abottom surface positioned opposite to the opening; and an area of theopening of the recessed portion is larger than an area of the bottomsurface of the recessed portion.
 6. The vehicle seat according to claim1, further comprising: an airbag module that includes an airbag and isdisposed on a back side of the opposing region, wherein the spaceformation portion is provided at a portion in the opposing regiondifferent from a portion of the opposing region behind which the airbagmodule is disposed.
 7. The vehicle seat according to claim 1, furthercomprising: an airbag module that includes an airbag and is disposed ona back side of the opposing region, wherein the space formation portionis provided at a portion in the opposing region behind which the airbagmodule is disposed.
 8. The vehicle seat according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a belt pusher that is mounted in the opposing region andconfigured to push a portion of the belt portion forward, wherein thespace formation portion is provided at a portion in the opposing regionthat is different in an upper-to-lower direction from a portion in theopposing region where the belt pusher is mounted.
 9. The vehicle seataccording to claim 1, wherein a component that forms the space formationportion and a peripheral component around the space formation portionare separate components from each other that are assembled andintegrated.
 10. The vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein: thespace formation portion is formed by the recessed portion; the vehicleseat further comprises a movable member that has a recessed portionformation surface that forms the recessed portion; and the movablemember is configured to oscillate between a position at which therecessed portion formation surface is exposed in the opposing region anda position at which the recessed portion formation surface deviates fromthe opposing region.
 11. The vehicle seat according to claim 10,wherein: the movable member is provided with a positioning portionconfigured to hold a position of the movable member; and the positioningportion is configured to hold the movable member at a position where aportion of the movable member surrounding the recessed portion pushes aportion of the belt portion forward.
 12. The vehicle seat according toclaim 10, wherein the recessed portion formed by the recessed portionformation surface is configured to provide a housing space for storageof a small product.
 13. The vehicle seat according to claim 10, whereinthe movable member is a rotary member that is rotatably supported, andby rotating, oscillates between the position at which the recessedportion formation surface is exposed in the opposing region and theposition at which the recessed portion formation surface deviates fromthe opposing region.
 14. The vehicle seat according to claim 13, whereina surface of the rotary member that is arranged on an opposite side ofthe recessed portion formation surface relative to a rotary shaft of therotary member is formed by a cover material attached to the rotarymember.